


Mutually Beneficial

by lulusgull



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Female Kim Jongdae | Chen, Female Kim Joonmyun | Suho, Genderbending, Minor Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen, Minor Kim Joonmyun | Suho/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Past Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 04:28:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10429098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lulusgull/pseuds/lulusgull
Summary: Jongdae wants to save her family from bankruptcy. Kyungsoo wants to get his to stop trying to marry him off to someone he can’t stand. Somehow they make it work.





	1. Mutually Beneficial (1/3)

**Author's Note:**

> This was my entry for the the 2017 round of the EXO Free Love AU fest. 
> 
> A/N: This isn’t quite what was requested and it’s kind of rushed at the end ~

She found out by accident.

Jongdae’s sure that her family would’ve kept it from her until they had a negative value in their bank account. But she _had _found out, and she had been pissed beyond belief. She was a part of their family and yet she had been the only one to not know that business wasn’t going so well. Jongdeok had tried to hide it till the end and had even told her to butt out and mind her own business. As if she fucking could.__

__Even now here she was, sitting at the corner booth in Minseok’s coffee shop, staring at an unmarked pile of work. Really, she should have been marking the work - she’d promised her students they’d get it back but no matter how much she tried to focus, she couldn’t. Jongdeok had told her not to get involved but how could she not when she’d never seen him so worried before?_ _

__“Jongdae,” Luhan called out, setting two cups of coffee on the table and sliding into the booth beside her. He nudged her with his shoulder when it became clear that she was still too absorbed in her thoughts to respond to him. “Your favourite - on the house.”_ _

__“Are you allowed to do that?” Jongdae asked, finally snapping out of her thoughts. She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, gratefully taking the coffee._ _

__“Of course I can.” Luhan gestured to Minseok who was behind the counter, serving one of the customers. “My boyfriend owns the place.”_ _

__“I knew you had an ulterior motive for dating Minseok oppa.” She hid her mischievous smirk behind her mug. “He keeps your caffeine addiction satisfied.”_ _

__“He keeps me satisfied in more ways than that,” Luhan said, wistfully looking at Minseok and completely missing the look of disgust Jongdae threw his way,_ _

__“That’s gross.”_ _

__“To you,” Luhan remarked, turning physically back towards Jongdae. He patted her shoulder and raised his eyes to hers, suddenly becoming serious. “What’s got you so worried, then?”_ _

__“The same thing as anyone else,” she said with a smile, blowing off Luhan’s concern. “Financial issues.”_ _

__“Have you been spending more than usual?”_ _

__“It’s not my financial problems. It’s more of a business thing.”_ _

__“The family business,” Luhan guessed, hitting the nail on the head._ _

__Jongdae looked away from him. On one hand Luhan’s family business had experienced similar problems last year but was now stable, so Luhan would be the person to go to for help. But on the other hand, she’d already blabbed too much, and if news of this got back to Jongdeok then he’d kill her._ _

__“How bad is it?” Luhan asked, “I can talk to Jongdeok hyung and help him with some business strategies or -”_ _

__“If things go on like this for another month then we’ll be declared bankrupt,” she interrupted him._ _

__“It’s that bad?”_ _

__Jongdae nodded slowly, trying to hide it all behind a smile. “Apparently, business has been bad for over a year now. Dad and Jongdeok have been trying to fix it but clearly nothing’s been working so far.”_ _

__“Maybe you need an investment-”_ _

__“I’ve already brought it up to him but he’s being stubborn. He’s not going to accept help from any of our friends.” She let out a sigh, running her finger over the rim of her cup. “I’ve been thinking about moving back home, oppa’s already done the same. The money I’ll get from selling the apartment can be put back into the company. It won’t be a lot, but it’s a start, right?”_ _

__“You were so happy when you bought the apartment though,” Minseok cut in, walking towards the pair of them. Jongdae briefly wanted to question how long he’d been eavesdropping. Minseok slid in beside his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around Luhan’s shoulder._ _

__“I didn’t buy the apartment - Dad did. And now he needs the money, so it makes sense to sell it.” Jongdae shrugged her shoulders, avoiding the equally piercing stares coming from both the older men._ _

__“Jongdae,” Minseok scolded gently, “Even if you do sell your apartment, your parents won’t let you put the money into the company. They won’t want you to give up your home for them.”_ _

__“But my home is with my family.” Letting out a sigh she picked up the now lukewarm, still full coffee mug. “I just feel really helpless right now. I know next to nothing about running a business, let alone running a big corporation like ours, so anything I _do _suggest will probably end up being wrong anyway.” She trailed off, noticing the looks she was getting from the two men.___ _

____Luhan and Minseok looked at each other, silently communicating in the way only they could. Whatever they were deliberating on took a very short time to resolve as they both turned back to face her only seconds later._ _ _ _

____“What?” Jongdae asked apprehensively, immediately suspicious. Something told her that this plan belonged to Luhan, and she had learnt first-hand that any plan that was concocted in his mind was a dangerous, potentially embarrassing one._ _ _ _

____“What are you doing next Thursday at 4?” Minseok asked._ _ _ _

____“Don’t think about coming up with a lie,” Luhan warned. “We already know that your last lesson on Thursdays is at 2.”_ _ _ _

____“I think I’m free,” she admitted, deciding that it was easier to just give in from the beginning._ _ _ _

____“Good.” Minseok slid out of the booth when a new group of customers walked into the shop. “I want you to come here to meet someone. They'll be here by 7ish.”_ _ _ _

____“Someone,” Jongdae called out to him as Minseok walked away from the table._ _ _ _

____“A potential investor,” Minseok replied over his shoulder, heading behind his counter to take the new orders._ _ _ _

____Jongdae looked back towards Luhan who was doing his best to avoid her eyes. They both knew that all it would take was a few well-thought of questions for Luhan to spill everything. The older man looked around the coffee shop, and Jongdae thought about pressing the matter before deciding against it. She’d grown up alongside Minseok and had stood by him when he first came out, when he’d broken away from the family business, and when he’d set up his first shop. She trusted him, and she had to trust that he’d have her best interest at heart._ _ _ _

____And well, as for Luhan, she had been the one to introduce Minseok to him and frankly, he owed her a lot for saving him from his chain of dud boyfriends._ _ _ _

____**********_ _ _ _

____True to her word, Jongdae was sat in Minseok's coffee shop, the next Thursday, waiting for this so called potential investor. Both Luhan and Minseok had remained silent whenever Jongdae had asked questions about who the investor was and if Jongdae was being honest, it made her nervous. If blabber mouth Luhan was keeping mum, then something was going on. Her coffee mug was standing in front of her, still full but now stone cold._ _ _ _

____The bell rang, signalling the entrance of another customer. But this customer must have been special because at the sight of them, Minseok stepped out from behind the counter and Luhan came to sit beside her._ _ _ _

____She gave Luhan a prodding look which he chose to ignore and instead watched his boyfriend walk towards them with the newcomer. Jongdae followed Luhan's lead and watched as Minseok approached the table, her eyes briefly assessing the stranger. The stranger slid into the booth first and gestured for Minseok to sit down. Minseok, smiling at the stranger, shook his head and gestured for the Luhan to follow after him._ _ _ _

____Luhan, taking Minseok's cue, took Jongdae's cold coffee and followed him behind the counter. Left alone with the stranger, Jongdae took the time to look him over. He'd clearly just gotten off from work, his briefcase lying next to him on the seat and his tie loosened to hang around his neck. He looked around the coffee shop with large eyes, not yet looking at Jongdae as he shrugged off his suit jacket. Rolling his sleeves up, the stranger looked at Jongdae and caught her eyes. Instead of becoming flustered under her eyes, he reached out a hand for her to shake._ _ _ _

____“It's been a while.” Jongdae's eyebrows rose at the statement; they'd met before? The stranger gave a slight chuckle, the sound filled with no amusement. “You clearly don't remember me.”_ _ _ _

____“I'm sorry,” Jongdae tried to apologise but the man waved it away, locking his eyes onto her uncomfortable figure._ _ _ _

____“I can't say I made quite a lasting impression,” the man acknowledged. “I'm Do Kyungsoo.”_ _ _ _

____“Nice to meet you Mr Do. I'm Kim Jongdae.”_ _ _ _

____“There's no point in calling me Mr Do. Just call me Kyungsoo, we're going to be married soon anyway.”_ _ _ _

____“I'm sorry? Married?” Jongdae repeated in shock. She silently wondered at the audacity of this man. Here he was, eyeing her in what could only be seen as boredom, whilst he sprung such a sudden announcement on her._ _ _ _

____“Ah,” the man, ‘Kyungsoo’, said as if he'd suddenly gained enlightenment. Jongdae eyed him in irritation, wanting to demand that if he knew so much then the least he could do was tell her as well. “Minseok hyung hasn't told you yet.”_ _ _ _

____“Told me what, exactly?” Jongdae asked, giving the man a glare. Minseok, as if on cue, approached the table._ _ _ _

____Ignoring the glare, Minseok set down four cups on the table. “Here, all of our favourites.”_ _ _ _

____“Minseok,” she ground out, waiting for the older man to acknowledge her. Minseok slid in beside ‘Kyungsoo’, clearly anxious about her reaction to whatever the truth about the situation was. But he had no reason to be, because this ‘Kyungsoo’ guy clearly had the wrong idea._ _ _ _

____“Jongdae,” Minseok began cautiously, sending a look to Luhan who was sat at Jongdae's side._ _ _ _

____“Don't,” she cut in. Just the way he'd said her name was enough. “I think I should get going, whilst it's been lovely to meet you again Mr Do, I'm not going through with this.”_ _ _ _

____She scrambled to gather her coat and bag, preparing to leave the shop and this ridiculous situation. Luhan rose from his seat, stopping her from exiting the booth._ _ _ _

____“Oppa,” she said quietly, looking up at Luhan from under her eyelashes. “I can't do this - you know why.”_ _ _ _

____“Jongdae,” Luhan said gently, paying no heed to the other men at the table who were clearly listening in. He set a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You have to stop living in the past.”_ _ _ _

____“Sit down Jongdae,” Kyungsoo interrupted and Jongdae was all but ready to leap across the table and strangle him with his tie. Instead, she let out a deep sigh and sat down. “You don't want to marry me. Why?”_ _ _ _

____“You're honestly asking me why I don't want to marry you?” she asked incredulously, becoming even more shocked when he nodded as if his question was rational. “Well, first of all, we're complete strangers. You don't marry a complete stranger, and secondly, I've just gotten out of a pretty serious relationship. I'm not ready to jump into another one straight away.”_ _ _ _

____Kyungsoo settled into a contemplative silence. Jongdae reached out for her mug and took a sip, looking away from the still silent man. She pretended not to notice that Luhan and Minseok had left the table to avoid the stifling atmosphere. If he continued to look at her like that -_ _ _ _

____“When did your relationship end?” Kyungsoo asked, breaking the silence._ _ _ _

____Jongdae narrowed her eyes at him. “Two years ago.”_ _ _ _

____“If it was two years ago and you're still hung up about it, then it must've been a really serious relationship.” He wondered aloud, making Jongdae's heart drop into her stomach. No one had probed into the details of the break up since it'd happened._ _ _ _

____“It was serious.” She shot him an annoyed look, only to get a raised eyebrow in response. “We were engaged.”_ _ _ _

____“And you broke up? Whose fault was it?”_ _ _ _

____“That is enough!” she said firmly._ _ _ _

____“Seeing the way you're reacting, I'll take it that _he _broke up with _you _.”_____ _ _ _

________“Mr Do, thank you for your _generous _offer to help my family, but I'll have to decline it.” She rose to her feet, glaring daggers at the still seated man. “I'd sooner get help from Rumpelstiltskin. Have a good day and I hope to see you never.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________“ _Jongdae _,” Mr Do called out before she could step away from the booth. He rose to his feet as well, assessing her through veiled eyes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a card and held it out for her to take. “My business card; for when you decide to accept my help.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________**********_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdae had moved back in with her parents, much to the annoyance of Jongdeok. Her older brother had thrown a fit when he’d heard that she’d sold her apartment to move back home. But he’d reacted even worse when he’d found out that the money she got from selling the apartment had been pumped back into the company. It had taken Jongdae reminding her brother that she held shares in the company for him to back off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________It was a shame, Jongdae thought as she looked around the dinner table, that it took potential bankruptcy for her family to be able to sit at the dinner table together. When the two siblings had moved out, their mother had made sure to hold a family dinner every Sunday, but it wasn’t unusual for her brother or her dad to be missing from those dinners because of work._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Will you stop looking at me like that,” she hissed, leaning across the table slightly to get closer to Jongdeok as their mother brought the last of the food to the table._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I will, when you tell me why you sold your apartment.” Her older brother straightened up in his seat, raising both eyebrows when she looked away._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It made sense to sell the apartment because I wouldn’t be staying there for much longer anyway,” Jongdae said dismissively, picking up her chopsticks and reaching for one of the side dishes that just happened to be beside Jongdeok._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________He batted her chopsticks away with his own, moving the dish out of her reach. “Why?” he demanded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Would the two of you stop acting like children?” their mother asked, swatted Jongdeok’s arm and reached over to do the same to Jongdae. “You’re grown adults.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I will when she answers the question,” he insisted, and Jongdae rolled her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“God, are you really the CEO of an entertainment company?” Jongdae asked, giving him a look. “You're acting like a child.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Answer the question, Jongdae.” This time the words came from her father._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The two siblings stopped their squabbling to look at their father who was watching his only daughter closely. Feeling the heavy weight of his stare on her, Jongdae looked away from him and set her chopsticks back on the table. She didn't want to tell him the truth. She couldn’t tell him the truth without making it sound like she didn’t think that her brother or her dad, for that matter, were capable of running the company. Instead, she thought back to the business card that was still in her coat pocket. Her pride had wanted to throw it away but her conscious had reminded her that her family needed help. If the matter had affected her alone, then she wouldn’t have had a problem with throwing it away. But the matter affected so many people. Getting the company back on track was important for both her family and for the celebrities signed under the company._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Jongdae,” her dad said gently, “Sweetheart -”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m engaged,” Jongdae said quietly, cutting off whatever her dad was going to say._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She looked down at her lap, fiddling nervously with her fingers as the silence following her words lengthened. Risking a look at her brother from across the table, she saw the shock in his face, mirroring the expression on both of her parent’s faces._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You’re engaged,” her mother repeated slowly. “We didn’t even know you were dating.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I was going to tell you,” she continued steadily, steeling herself against the probing eyes of her family members. “But he just proposed out of nowhere.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“And what about Baek -”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’ve moved on.” Jongdae smiled reassuringly at her mother, “I know you’re probably worried about me moving too fast -”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Of course you’re moving too fast,” Jongdeok spluttered, ignoring their dad when he called his name in warning. “You’ve only been dating this guy for a year and a half at most, there’s no way you can get married to him.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I wouldn’t marry someone if I didn’t want to.” Jongdae turned her eyes onto her older brother. “I understand that you’re worried about me oppa, I do, but can’t you just trust me?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdeok watched her in silence after her question, and Jongdae tried to remain calm under his stare. It didn’t matter how hard their parents tried to probe, if Jongdae wanted to hide something from them, then they’d never find out what it was. But Jongdeok was another matter altogether. He had the ability to look beneath whatever facade Jongdae was trying to put forward. He needed to buy this lie._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I want to meet him.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdae looked away from her older brother at the sound of her dad’s voice. “Huh?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I want to meet him Jongdae.” Her dad smiled softly, “If this man can help you move on and he makes you happy, then you have my blessing.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’ll talk to him and sort something out.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________The family resumed their dinner in relative silence after Jongdae’s words. She picked at her food; her appetite had suddenly disappeared when she realised that she’d have to throw away the last of her self-respect and go crawling back to Do Kyungsoo. That was the least of her problems. From the sound of the initial idea brought to light by Kyungsoo, this marriage would be very real and binding. Snapping out of her thoughts, Jongdae looked up to see Jongdeok picking at his food absentmindedly. Her brother was staring at her left hand, or rather, at her empty ring finger. She quickly hid her hand under the table, making him look at her suspiciously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdeok let the matter slide but only until dinner had finished and she was heading to her room to tackle the ever increasing stack of marking on her desk. Before she could go into her room, Jongdeok stepped in to block her way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“What do you want?” she asked, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Are you sure you’re engaged?” he asked with narrowed eyes. “Or are you lying?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Why would I lie about something like this?” she demanded, shuffling uncomfortably on her feet._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Then where’s the ring Jongdae?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“For your information I’m still not comfortable wearing it,” she retorted, manoeuvring past him and into her room. “So if that's enough evidence for you, I’m going to get back to work.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She shut the door on her brother, pressing her back against it. In her desperate attempt to handle the situation, she hadn’t thought through her decision and only now did she think about what she had just signed herself up to. But what if she had left it too late to talk to Kyungsoo? It had been two weeks since they’d met and he was well within his rights to forget about the issue altogether. If he wasn’t willing to go along with it, then Jongdae was done for._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She pushed herself away from the door and walked towards the coat she had thrown haphazardly across her bed when she’d arrived home from work. Rummaging through the pockets, she pulled the business card out of her pocket. Holding the card in one hand and her phone in the other, she looked at the time. Would he still be at work?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Deciding to take the chance, she dialled the number on the card. Sitting on the edge of her bed she waited for someone to pick up the phone. The phone rang four times before someone picked up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdae looked back at the clock; Kyungsoo was clearly a workaholic._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Park Chanyeol here,” a deep voice said from the other end. “You've reached the office of Mr Do – unfortunately, he's unable to take any calls right now. Would you like to leave a message or book an appointment?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Can I leave a message please?” Jongdae muttered, deciding that she'd pick talking over the phone with Kyungsoo, to talking face to face any day. What a wonderful start to a marriage, she thought bitterly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“And who should I say the message is from?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Jongdae,” she answered, furrowing her eyebrows slightly when she heard the man gasp quietly at her name. “Kim Jongdae.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Wait. The man's voice was suddenly much more animated, “Kim Jongdae as in Minseok hyung’s practically adopted little sister?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You know Minseok oppa, too?” Where was Minseok meeting all of these people? He wasn't exactly what Jongdae would call sociable. He’d pick staying home over going out any day, so where was he meeting all these people anyway?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Hang on a minute, I'll put you through to Kyungsoo now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I thought he didn't want to be disturbed-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“He won't mind.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________From what she'd seen of Kyungsoo, she knew he'd mind being disturbed. But Jongdae held her tongue as she was put through to Kyungsoo. She shuffled up her bed, resting against the headboard and crossed her legs underneath her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m not quite sure why Chanyeol put you through,” was the first thing Kyungsoo said over the phone as Jongdae traced the pattern on her bedsheets. He seemed distracted. “But I’m really busy at the moment, so-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae said quietly. Her one word made Kyungsoo stop talking and she briefly wondered if he’d hung up on her. She wouldn’t put it past him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She heard Kyungsoo clear his throat over the line, disproving her previous thought._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Jongdae,” he acknowledged, “I didn’t know it was you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Didn’t you say you were busy?” she chickened out, taking the lifeline that had been offered to her as a chance to leave the conversation. “I can call back tomorrow.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It’s fine,” he said dismissively. “Are you calling to accept my offer?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Even now, after having arrived at the point where Jongdae had no choice but to accept his offer, she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. She looked around the organised mess that was her room and briefly wondered what Kyungsoo’s office looked like. She guessed that it was too organised, every little object probably had a set place. Hell, the files were probably colour coded and everything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’m taking your silence as a yes,” he informed her, sounding slightly amused._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I still don’t understand,” she admitted. “In this deal you help my family, but what do you get out of this?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I get to marry you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“And that’s a benefit?” she asked suspiciously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I don’t know, you tell me,” he chuckled slightly, and Jongdae made a face at her wall. Was he always going to be so annoying. “By marrying you, I can get my family to back off about getting married and they can stop setting me up with the most annoying people on the planet. They’ve been bugging me for ages and marrying you is the only way to get them to stop.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“So they want you to find someone to help you relax a little? I take it you’re a workaholic then?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Is that a question you need to ask?” he said bluntly, as if she was stupid. He’d managed to singlehandedly kill the positive turn the conversation had taken, and with it Jongdae’s impression of him. “Look at the time; I’m still at work and I’m not planning on going home until 10pm.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Is that what it’s going to be like after we get married?” Jongdae had meant to make the question light-hearted but it didn’t carry across well. She could see it now, her future full of lonely nights in a cold apartment for however long this marriage was supposed to last._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Would that bother you?” Kyungsoo asked quietly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“If this was going to be a real marriage it would.” She let out a slight sigh, “But since it’s not, I can live with it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I’ll be home by 7 each night,” he promised out of nowhere, surprising her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Kyungsoo-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“For the year we’re married I want to live like it’s a real marriage, Jongdae.” His voice was firm, and all Jongdae could concentrate on was the one year duration that had been placed on the marriage. “That means that we live together, sleep in the same bed, and we’re faithful to each other.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Sleeping in the same bed,” Jongdae repeated nervously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Why?” He sounded smug all of a sudden. Jongdae wondered if she’d get whiplash from dealing with his emotions. ”Are you afraid you won’t be able to control yourself once we’re in such close proximity?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“You have an awful lot of self-confidence,” she muttered under her breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“And you don’t seem to have enough self-confidence,” he remarked, making Jongdae stiffen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Do you know me well enough to say something like that?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I could say the same thing.” He let out a sigh, and Jongdae could hear him rifle through what sounded like some paperwork. “Don’t get offended so easily, Jongdae. It’s just that everyone’s said that since the break-up, you haven’t been yourself.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Everyone?” she repeated suspiciously. “How many people have you been talking to exactly? And why are you probing into my past anyway?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I got all the information I needed out of Minseok hyung before Luhan hyung could stop him. It’s actually surprising that Luhan hyung’s so willing to keep your business so well hidden from me. From what Minseok had told me, he was more chilled out in general?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“It’s because he doesn't trust you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________And neither do I, she thought to herself. Regardless of the excuse Kyungsoo had given her, she didn’t buy his reasoning. There was no need for him to seek her out, specifically. Whilst she was grateful that he was willing to help her, (not that she’d admit it) she couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something from her. That feeling put her on edge._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“As for probing into your past, it only makes sense for me to know what kind of dickheads my fiancée used to date,” he hummed contemplatively. “Don’t you want to know about my past?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“No,” Jongdae said softly. Baekhyun hadn’t been a dickhead, “I should let you get back to your work.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Kyungsoo sounded confused; he was clearly wondering what he’d done to make her so closed off. “Jongdae-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________She hung up before he could say another word._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________**********_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Jongdae woke up the next morning and immediately remembered the decision she’d taken last night. God, what had she done. Rolling over to bury her face in her pillow, Jongdae released a deep sigh. This relationship she’d sold herself to for a year would be very legal, very binding and she’s unwittingly dragged her family into the mess. Her father wanted to meet Kyungsoo and she’d have to call him up _again _to sort something out.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Well, she’d just avoid doing that for as long as she could._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She pushed Kyungsoo to the back of her mind and went through her morning routine. Once she was dressed, she headed over to her desk, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and picking up the marking she had managed to finish last night. Putting her student’s work into her bag, Jongdae made her way to the dining room for breakfast, her footsteps slowing when she heard an unfamiliar male voice conversing with her father._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________It had only just gone 6 o’clock - who would be visiting them so early in the morning?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jongdae walked into the dining room, her father’s conversation becoming quiet when he caught sight of his daughter. The unfamiliar man, finished with his conversation, bid goodbye to her father and collected his belongings to leave their home. She hovered beside the table until her dad gestured for her to come closer, and she took a seat beside him_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Who was that?” she asked, helping herself to some tea._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“One of the potential investors,” he said, passing Jongdae a plate of toast. She helped herself to some toast, waiting for him to continue._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________When it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything else, Jongdae asked, “And why were you meeting him in our home?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“He felt uncomfortable meeting at the office,” her dad explained, talking around the subject. Jongdae couldn’t help but watch her father warily. “And besides, if he does come through with his business plan then it’ll help the company a lot, Jongdae. It’s good for us to stay on his good side.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“How much is he planning on investing?” Jongdae buttered her slice of toast and raised it to her lips to take a bite._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“He’s planning on paying off the entire debt.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Her eyes widened. Jongdae knew exactly how large the debt was and for an investor to be willing to pay that much money -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She cleared her throat. “And what does he want in return for investing such a large sum?” Her dad looked away from her and Jongdae put her toast down, losing her appetite completely. “Dad. What did he want?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“The CEO position.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“You can’t just give the position to him!” she exclaimed, “What about Jongdeok? Does he have any idea what’s happening?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Of course he does, darling.” Her dad reached out to pat her hand comfortingly, “He’s the one that brought the deal forward.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Please, don’t do this.” Jongdae put her hand on top of her dad’s, squeezing it between two of hers. “Just give me some time to do something or - ”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Jongdae,” her dad started gently, “this might be the only way to save the company.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“There’s another way,” she insisted, “Trust me, I’ve been speaking to someone who - ”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Focus on your teaching Jongdae,” he said without any force. “Leave the company to me and your brother. Besides, aren’t you getting late for work?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Jongdae nodded, watching her dad closely as she rose to her feet. He turned away from her, looking through some papers. Jongdae gathered her bag, slipping on her shoes. Locking the door behind her, Jongdae slumped against the door. They were planning on essentially selling the company that her father had established from the ground up, that he lived for._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________She needed to do something quickly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Letting out a sigh, Jongdae straightened up and made her way to her car. For now she would have to forget the matter and focus on her students. Once she got some time to herself, she’d have to work something out with Kyungsoo. But how was she supposed to get her father and brother to accept his help? They were just as stubborn as she was, after all._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Pulling into the school parking lot, Jongdae steeled herself one last time. She couldn’t just let this go. Leaning over to the passenger seat, she rummaged through her bag to find her phone. She called Kyungsoo’s office again to leave a message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Park Chanyeol here,” Chanyeol said on the other end of the line, “You’ve reached the office of -”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Chanyeol, it’s Jongdae,” she cut him off. “I just want to leave a message.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“Are you sure? I can put you through to Mr Do right now if - ”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“I don’t have time to talk to him,” Jongdae said as she clambered out of the car, bag slung over her shoulder. “I just need you to pass a message on to him for me. Tell him that I need to talk to him later.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“And that’s it?” Chanyeol asked uncertainly, “It sounds like he’s in trouble.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________“That’s it, Chanyeol.” Shutting the car door and locking it behind her, Jongdae headed towards the school. “Thanks.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Now the ball was in his court; Kyungsoo would have to reach out to her, for now she was going to focus on her students and pray that her father didn’t accept any offers too quickly.After he had tried to interrogate her, Jongdae had heard her brother talking over the phone last night, about how they needed just enough money to keep the company afloat. If they managed that, then they could slowly start to repay the debt they were in._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Walking through the school corridor and finding her classroom, Jongdae started to prepare for her first lesson of the day. She only had four classes today; two of the classes made up of the older years and two of the younger years, with two free periods. As long as she focused on helping her kids learn to love music, she wouldn’t stress so much about when Kyungsoo was going to contact her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________And she wasn’t focused on him. He didn’t even enter her mind _once _during the school day. In fact, she’d pushed him so far back in her mind that she couldn’t even remember what he looked like or what he sounded like. Definitely not.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________“Miss?” A voice called out, drawing Jongdae from her thoughts - thoughts that did _not revolve around Do Kyungsoo.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“Yes?” she answered, rising from behind her desk and approaching the student with their hand in the air._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________She crouched beside the student, answering their question quietly and observing the moment when understanding dawned on the student’s face. It was one of her favourite moments of teaching - that and the moment where she saw a flame of passion ignite within a student and knew that it was because of her teaching. Straightening up Jongdae headed over to the whiteboard to rub out all of her writing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“Miss?” another voice called out as she strained to reach the upper parts of the board. “Do you need some help?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“No, that’s fine,” she insisted, wiping the board clean as the students started to laugh among themselves. She turned to face her students, “I know you’re getting antsy because it’s almost the end of the lesson, but I just need you to concentrate until you finish the questions. Once you’ve done them and handed them in, then you can go.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________Just like that, her words had restored silence to the room and her students went back to their work. But the whispering continued, and Jongdae looked around her classroom, eyes zoning in on the man standing in the doorway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“Kyungsoo?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“I wondered how long it would take you to notice me,” he said as she made her way towards him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________Stepping out into the hallway, she gestured for him to follow after her and shut the door to the classroom so they wouldn’t disturb the students. She looked back at Kyungsoo to find him watching her expectantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“What are you doing here?” she asked uncomfortably as one of the other teachers passed them in the hallway, looking between her and Kyungsoo curiously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“You said you wanted to talk to me, didn’t you?” He tucked his hands into his suit pocket._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“But aren’t you supposed to be working right now?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“I left work early.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“You?” Her disbelief was obvious. “The workaholic?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________“I thought I’d try and fix it before we get married,” he announced bluntly , and Jongdae shushed him in case her students could hear him. The corner of Kyungsoo's lips pulled up into a half smirk, “Why don’t I wait for you until you finish the lesson? I mean, it _is _your last one of the day, right?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“How did you know that?” She narrowed her eyes at him as he walked around her to enter the classroom. “And for that matter, how did you know where I work?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He made no attempt to answer her and headed into the classroom. Jongdae watched his back in annoyance; just how much information did he manage to get out of Minseok anyway? She followed him into the classroom, watching as he made himself at home behind her desk, her students watching him in interest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae cleared her throat, trying to grab their attention. She succeeded, they all turned to look at her, Kyungsoo included. “If you’ve finished the work, then you can hand it in and go.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________The students slowly left their seats, approaching her as she stood in front of her desk and forming a line. She took the worksheet from one of the students and waited for her to leave, but she didn’t.Instead she looked at the man behind Jongdae, before meeting Jongdae’s eyes and raising an eyebrow. Nosy kids._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae played oblivious and waited for the girl to move, but she didn’t. Instead she asked, “Who’s that man?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“He’s a friend,” Jongdae said slowly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“You can’t friendzone your fiance,” Kyungsoo called out from behind her, and Jongdae turned to throw him a glare from over her shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________The students handed their work in one by one, gossiping about Jongdae and Kyungsoo on their way out. Once the students had left, Jongdae became acutely aware of just how alone they were. She made her way around the room, straightening things up and simultaneously ignoring him. He cleared his throat, but she didn’t do so much as look his way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Jongdae,” he called out eventually, irritation creeping into his tone. “You were the one that wanted to talk to me, and I took time out of my schedule to come and see you, so get to it already.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Did I ask you to come and see me?” She raised an eyebrow, “You could have just as easily called me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He crossed his arms over his chest, looking unimpressed. Jongdae let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I’m sorry, you’re right,” she admitted, making Kyungsoo’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “I’m just stressed today. I walked in on dad talking to an investor who’s willing to pay off the entire debt as long as he becomes CEO.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“And that’s why you wanted to talk,” he guessed and she nodded, making her way towards the desk._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“If we’re going to do something, then we need to do it soon.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“You’ve moved in with your parent’s, right?” he asked as he rose to his feet, looking for something in his inner suit pocket. “Let me drop you off, and then I can approach your father about the investment as well as officially introducing myself as your fiance.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“And you’re alright with that?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He looked up at her with furrowed eyebrows, “It’s part of the deal, isn’t it?” He pulled out a black velvet box from his pocket and slid it across the desk towards Jongdae. “Besides, I need to introduce you to my parents soon, too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae nodded, only half listening to his words, all of her attention focused on the box in front of her. She picked it up with an unsteady hand. The last time she’d received a black velvet box, Baekhyun had been on one knee in front of her, grinning up at her. This situation was so different._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Open it,” Kyungsoo interrupted her thoughts, making her look up at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Looking down at the box, she opened it to reveal the engagement ring nestled inside. The diamond twinkled teasingly up at Jongdae as she slipped it onto her finger. Curling her hand into a fist, she hid it behind her back slightly, looking back at Kyungsoo to find him watching her expectantly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“How did you know my ring size?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Kyungsoo stared at her half hidden arm. “Minseok hyung.” He raised his eyes to hers, suddenly breaking the tension by picking up the briefcase he’d brought with him. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“But my car - ”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I’ll call Chanyeol to drive your car home.” He turned away from her, picking up his phone to call Chanyeol as Jongdae picked up her bag._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________She was introduced to Chanyeol for the first time when he stepped out of a taxi. He wasn’t what Jongdae had expected, as he approached them with a massive grin on his face. He shook her hand warmly and mock saluted Kyungsoo when he ordered Chanyeol to drive Jongdae’s car back to her house._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Look after her please,” Jongdae said, smiling up at the taller man as she handed him her keys. “She’s my baby.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I can already see Kyungsoo becoming jealous of the car,” Chanyeol teased, unlocking her car._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes and waved the man away with one hand, the other pressed against the small of Jongdae’s back. But he made no comment on the action, leading her to his car. Opening the passenger side door, he waited for her to get into the car before shutting the door behind her. Walking around the front of the car, he settled into the driver’s side. Taking the suit jacket off, he threw it into the back seat, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He navigated his way out of the car park as Jongdae called her mother. She raised the phone to her ears, waiting for her mother to pick up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Jongdae, sweetheart,” her mother said on the other end of the line. “How are you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I’m just on my way home, mum,” she said quietly, looking at Kyungsoo as he drove. “Do you know when Dad and oppa are coming home from work?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“They came home early today,” the older woman said with poorly concealed worry, “There was nothing to do in the office - they’re waiting on investment offers.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Oh right.” Jongdae chewed on her bottom lip, staring down at the ring on her finger. “Mum, I’m bringing my… my fiance home with me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I’ll tell your Dad and your brother to go easy on him.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae smiled slightly, “Thank you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________She hung up the phone and looked back at Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, feeling the weight of her stare, looked briefly at her before turning his attention back onto the road._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“What?” he asked when she didn’t say anything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Are you a stalker or something?” she demanded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“And there she is,” Kyungsoo muttered under his breath before saying aloud, “No I’m not.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Then I’m just going to have to get Minseok oppa to stop telling you things about me.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Minseok hyung didn’t tell me.” He looked at her briefly, “Do you really not know who I am?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“You’re Do Kyungsoo,” Jongdae replied in confusion._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Kyungsoo shook his head with a sigh. “Forget it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He didn’t say another word as he drove her back to her parent’s house. And if Jongdae had been paying attention then perhaps she would have noticed that he knew the address of her parent’s home even without her telling him. But Jongdae hadn’t been paying attention. Instead, she was focusing on the mystery that was Do Kyungsoo. Who was the strange man supposed to be? Or perhaps more importantly, why was he so upset that she seemed to have no recollection of what he thought she should know?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________But was he really upset? She had already grown so used to seeing him show so little emotion that she couldn’t tell if he was actually feeling upset. Kyungsoo had such a small range of emotion that it was hard to understand him. Jongdae turned slightly in her seat so she could get a better look at him so she could get a better look at him, specifically at the way the muscles in his jaw ticked slightly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________She hated to admit that he looked handsome like this, distractingly so._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Jongdae,” he snapped grouchily, making her snap out of her blatant appraisal. “Are you done with your staring?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I was just wondering why your emotional range is so small,” she muttered, trying to hide her embarrassment, even as a blush crept up her cheeks. She turned back in her seat to face the front._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Ha, ha,” he chuckled sarcastically, pulling into the driveway and turning the engine off. “We’re here now.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________He was right, they’d reached her home. Kyungsoo clambered out out the car, and came around the front to open the passenger door for her, just as she’d taken her seatbelt off. Picking up her bag, she slung it over her shoulder as he shut the door behind her. She watched him open the back door of the car and pick up his suit jacket. Slipping his arms into the jacket, he glanced briefly at her as she just stood there, watching him, before straightening the tie around his neck. When she thought that he was finished, Jongdae went to lead him towards the front door, only to stop in her track when he walked towards the boot of the car. He emerged a few seconds later, with something clutched in his arm … a bouquet of flowers?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“What’s with the flowers?”Jongdae asked, walking to his side to take the bouquet from his arm so he could close the boot._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I can’t exactly meet my future mother-in-law empty-handed, now can I?” he asked once he’d shut the boot and locked the car, taking the bouquet from Jongdae again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae rolled her eyes but made no further comment as she led him towards the front door. Fishing the keys out of her bag, she unlocked the front door and stepped into the house. She stopped mid step when her mother came rushing out of a room and into the hallway, quickly catching sight of Jongdae._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“Mum,” Jongdae said in surprise, “Is something wrong?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“I just wanted to meet you at the door,” she said in explanation, making her way towards Jongdae. “And well, I wanted to meet your fiancé, too.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Her mother’s voice trailed off as she laid eyes on the man standing behind Jongdae. Jongdae looked back at Kyungsoo to find him smiling warmly at her mother. It was the brightest expression she had ever seen on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“It’s been a while,” Kyungsoo said with a formal bow, the phrase reminding Jongdae of that fateful meeting just a few weeks ago. But it also confused her, just like it had back in Minseok’s coffee shop. “How have you been?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae’s mother looked curiously at Jongdae. “This is your fiancé?” At her nod, Jongdae’s mother smiled widely and closed the distance between herself and Kyungsoo. “Do Kyungsoo - I can’t believe it’s you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________When her mother pulled away from him, Kyungsoo held the bouquet out for her to take sheepishly. “Beautiful flowers for my beautiful mother-in-law.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________Jongdae’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. Who was this man and what had happened to her fiancé?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________“You never change, do you, Kyungsoo?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________God, someone really needed to tell her what was going on. Why was her mother acting as if she knew Kyungsoo, and well at that? The only answer that she could come up with was that her mother _did _know him. Was that why he was so put out in the car? Was Jongdae supposed to know him on a more personal level? Was he supposed to be something more than a fleeting acquaintance in her life? Because if that was the reason why, then she had some news for him.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________But then again - if he was as close to her family as it seemed, then maybe it was wrong of Jongdae to not know him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Jongdae,” her mother called out gently, putting a hand on her arm and snapping her out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Nothing,” she replied slightly sheepishly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Well, hurry up and bring Kyungsoo into the dining room, then - your brother and father are waiting.” With that, her mother walked back in the direction she had originally emerged from and left the couple alone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“So hyung’s home then?” Kyungsoo asked needlessly, and Jongdae looked back at him. She nodded slowly, chewing on her bottom lip; they were really doing this. Kyungsoo raised his eyebrows when Jongdae made no move to follow after her mother. “Jongdae? Shouldn’t we get going?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________She wanted to shake her head, she really did. Instead, she let out a sigh and nodded, moving to follow after her mother. When it became clear that she was struggling, Kyungsoo stepped forward and took her hand in his. Jongdae looked down at their linked hands and looked back up into his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Kyungsoo,” she called out questioningly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“It’s alright,” he assured her, “from now on, we’re in this together.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“We are,” she agreed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________Together, they walked into the dining room and Jongdae kept her hand in Kyungsoo’s. The closer they got to the dining table, the faster her heart began to beat. She couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of guilt that she felt at deceiving them to such an extent. As if he was able to hear her thoughts, Kyungsoo gave her hand a squeeze once they reached the table. Her brother and father had yet to see the pair of them, since they sat with their back turned towards them; not to mention that they were too busy talking between themselves. Her mother came out of the kitchen, carrying the last dish and the two men stopped talking when she cleared her throat, gesturing towards Jongdae with her head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________And like that, both men turned to look at Jongdae. Their eyes shifted to their intertwined fingers before raising their eyes to Kyungsoo’s face. Jongdeok’s eyebrows flew up in surprise._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“It’s nice to see you again, Mr Kim,” Kyungsoo greeted politely as he bowed formally, but did not release her hand. “How have you been, hyung?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“Kyungsoo?” Jongdeok said in evident shock, looking over at Jongdae. “You’re marrying Kyungsoo?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________Jongdae nodded cautiously, “Is that ok? Oppa? Appa?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________“I didn’t even know you’ve met each other again,” Jongdeok admitted as the couple finally moved to take a seat. “But if it’s Kyungsoo, then I’m a _little _less reluctant about giving you permission to get married.”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“I don’t need your permission,” Jongdae shot back at him, smiling thankfully at Kyungsoo as he pulled out her chair for her again. “Judging from how mum acted, we’ve already got her permission. Now we just need dad’s permission.” Jongdae looked cautiously at her father as he sat there, looking silently between the pair of them. “Dad?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Does he make you happy?” It was obvious that his question had thrown her off._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“I swear I’ll try my very best to make her happy,” Kyungsoo replied sincerely before she could say anything._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“I don’t doubt that Kyungsoo,” her father assured him with a smile, “but that wasn’t the question I asked.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“He does,” Jongdae lied flawlessly, making her father look back at her. “He does make me happy.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Then you have my permission,” her father declared, and just like that, the conversation moved on._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Dinner progressed smoothly and Jongdae marveled at how easy it was for Kyungsoo to melt into her family dynamic. But perhaps that was because he knew her family very well and in turn knew how to approach them and talk to them. The longer the conversation went on, the more relaxed Jongdae became, and she found herself treating Kyungsoo the way she did the rest of her family. Without realizing it, she was already piling food onto his plate, just as she did for her family. She missed the look Kyungsoo sent her way every time she did so._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“There’s something that’s still bugging me,” Jongdeok admitted as they helped clear the table._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Jongdae piled the dishes up and rolled her eyes, “What is it, oppa?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Jongdae was on her way to retrieve the pile of used dishes when Kyungsoo walked out of the kitchen and took them from her. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and she followed him, only to stumble on the surprising sight of Kyungsoo washing the dishes alongside her mother._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“The ring, Jongdae,” her brother said coming up beside her and making her look away from the unexpected scene._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“What about it?” Jongdae asked, looking down at the ring on her finger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Why weren’t you wearing it before?” he asked, making Jongdae blink up at him in surprise, her mind working quickly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Eventually, she let out a sigh. “At that point no one knew that I was dating - let alone that I was engaged.” She fiddled nervously with the ring. “Wearing an engagement ring wouldn’t exactly let me hide that I was engaged, now would it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________From the look on his face, Jongdeok had believed Jongdae’s words. Jongdae took the chance to excuse herself before her brother decided to probe deeper and walked into the kitchen. Kyungsoo was now drying the dishes with a towel and was busy talking to her mum. At the sound of her footsteps, their conversation dried up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Why do I get the feeling you were talking about me?” she wondered aloud, looking suspiciously between Kyungsoo and her mother._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Because it’s obvious that we were,” Kyungsoo said from over his shoulder with a smile. Jongdae swallowed thickly, extremely unsettled by the effect his smile had on her. God, what was wrong with her?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Fine, I’m not going to ask because I’m slightly worried about what mum told you,” she admitted. “Do you need some help?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“It’s alright, sweetheart,” her mother said, sharing a look with Kyungsoo, “why don’t you go and relax in your room? If you hang around any longer, your brother and father are only going to dig further into your relationship.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Jongdae took the advice, walked out of the kitchen and headed towards her bedroom. Once she was in her room, she sat at her desk and pulled the desk drawer open. Letting out a slight breath, Jongdae reached into the back of the drawer and pulled out a black velvet box. Opening the box, she stared down at her engagement ring - the one that Baekhyun had told her to keep. And so she had kept it, kept it hidden in the back of the drawer and only pulled it out when she missed him too much._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________She placed her left hand beside the box, comparing the two rings. They were beautiful, equally so, and whilst Baekhyun’s ring was far plainer than the one she was wearing, Jongdae would have preferred to be wearing that one, if she was honest. Jongdae still remembered the way she’d felt when he’d first slid the ring onto her finger. The warmth and the immense love she’d felt for the man kneeling before her had been indescribable. She hadn’t felt anything but trapped when she’d put Kyungsoo’s ring on her finger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________There was a knock on the door and Jongdae hurried to return the box to its original place. Pushing the drawer closed, rising to her feet and leaning against the desk so that she could face the door. Her heart started to beat faster at the sight of Kyungsoo in her doorway._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“You look like you’ve been caught cheating,” he said jokingly as he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Did you finish helping mum?” she asked, diverting the conversation and pushing away from the desk._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________She crossed her arms as he walked around her room, looking at everything with interest. He reached past her to pick up a picture from her desk - one from her parent’s anniversary party - and smiled fondly at the picture. He set it back on the desk and sat down on her bed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“Yeah. I helped her and she told me to get some alone time with you.” He glanced curiously around her room. “Growing up, the number of fantasies I had about this room was ridiculous.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________Jongdae’s mouth dropped open and before she could stop herself, she had crossed the room to slap his arm. She demanded, “Are you drunk?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“No,” he said with a shake of his head, “I’m tired - I get like this when I’m tired.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________________“And what is _this _exactly?” Jongdae couldn’t help the unimpressed look she sent his way.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“I have no filter,” Kyungsoo admitted. He rubbed his hand over his face, the single gesture telling Jongdae how tired the man really was. “I talked to your brother as well - about the investment.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“What did he say?” Jongdae couldn’t hide her curiosity as she settled down next to him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“He was resistant at first but well, he understood when I told him that family looks after family.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________His statement startled her. Were they family now?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae said, her voice clearly sincere as she reached out to hold his hand for a short moment. “Thank you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________________“It’s alright,” he said, taking her hand again when she let go. “But I think we need to talk about the ceremony, Jongdae.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Mutually Beneficial (2/3)

It was only a week later when they both decided to get things moving – it was time for Jongdae to meet Kyungsoo’s parents, as well.

Jongdae sat anxiously in the passenger seat of Kyungsoo’s car as he drove her to his parents’ home and she couldn’t help but throw an annoyed look at the silent man. He was in a good mood – of course he was – and it was only made better because he knew something Jongdae didn’t. When he had picked her up from home, Jongdae had asked him whether she had met his parents before, and he’d told her that yes, she had. But when she tried to pry further into the identity of his parents, he had shut up and refused to tell her any more.

Jongdae thought he just liked to rile her up.

He’d even made fun of her for staring at him in shock when he’d arrived earlier. It was the first time she’d seen him out of a suit and wearing casual clothes. It was so unexpected that it had rendered her speechless and she wouldn’t be lying if she admitted that she thought he slept in a suit, too. I mean, could you blame her? Kyungsoo had called her out on the unusual silence silence and teased her for blatantly admiring him – which she hadn’t been doing. She simply remarked that he was wearing so much black that she had momentarily confused him for a grim reaper, and walked towards the passenger seat.

“What happens if your parents don’t approve of me?” she wondered aloud, instead of calling him out.

Kyungsoo briefly looked up from the road, only to roll his eyes. “My parents are going to love you – they already do.”

He came to a stop at the red traffic light and turned to face her slightly. Breaching the space between them, he put his hand on top of hers, thumb rubbing across her engagement ring. With her free hand clutching the skirt’s delicate fabric, she cautiously returned his gaze. 

“Don’t worry about it Jongdae,” he assured her, still not turning away from her.

Jongdae cleared her throat and pulled her hand away from under his. She turned to face the front, not seeing the way her action made his face cloud over slightly.

“It’s a green light again,” Jongdae said to ease the awkward tension that had settled between the pair of them.

Kyungsoo said nothing as he turned back to the front and continued to drive. They spent the rest of the ride in silence until they arrived at their destination. The car was pulled into a car park and Kyungsoo turned the engine off. He wordlessly got out, shutting the door behind him with unnecessary force. Jongdae sighed softly, looking at the seat he had previously occupied.

Great, he was throwing a strop. Again.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when her door opened. Kyungsoo looked at her plainly, waiting for her to get out of the car. Clambering out of the car, Jongdae straightened out her clothes as he shut the door behind her. When she’d agreed to meeting Kyungsoo’s parents, she hadn’t thought that she would actually be so nervous. It shouldn’t have mattered to her what his parents thought of her because, for all intents and purposes, they had a deal and after a year, she wouldn’t see these people again, anyway. Whatever opinion they had of her wouldn’t matter once she and Kyungsoo were divorced. There was no point in trying to form an attachment – to them or to Kyungsoo.

“I thought I told you to stop being nervous,” he said abruptly, startling Jongdae and causing her hands to drop to her side from where they had been straightening out her skirt.

“It’s not like I can help it,” she shot back defensively.

He sighed and looked her over from head to toe. “You look fine Jongdae, so stop stressing out. Now come along.”

 

He took the lead and Jongdae followed a few steps behind him. She looked at his back as they walked and made a face at him before speeding up to walk beside him. Once they had reached the door, he fished out a bunch of keys from his pocket and opened the front door. Stepping aside, he gestured for her to enter before him.

Jongdae took him up on the offer, removed her shoes and put on the slippers that Kyungsoo laid out for her. She waited for Kyungsoo to take his shoes off, looking at the pictures hanging on the wall as she waited. Even from a single glance she could recognise baby Kyungsoo – he had always had those big eyes and that heart shaped smile. He had been such a cute baby.

“Mum?” Kyungsoo called out as he straightened out.

“I’m in the kitchen,” a women called back and Kyungsoo glanced in what Jongdae assumed to be the direction that the kitchen was in. 

He put a hand to the small of Jongdae’s back, an action that was quickly becoming a habit, it seemed, as he led her towards the kitchen. Jongdae followed his gentle prodding, silently taking in her surroundings and looking at the pictures that documented the growth of Kyungsoo and his older brother. When they reached the kitchen, the pair of them stopped in the open doorway to find a woman who was busy at the stove, her back to the door.

“Mum,” Kyungsoo called out again, “there’s someone I want you to meet.”

At the sound of her son’s voice, Kyungsoo’s mother turned to look at them. Jongdae bowed formally to her soon-to-be mother-in-law and straightened up again, unconsciously using Kyungsoo for emotional support, silently looking to him to guide her through this situation.

“Mum this is my fiancée, Kim -”

“Jongdae,” his mother completed for him, closing the distance between her and the couple in the doorway. “I’d recognise that face anywhere.”

Jongdae didn’t let her confusion at the woman’s words show on her face. Although said confusion soon lifted as Kyungsoo’s mother came closer and Jongdae was able to get a look at her face. It was a face she’d often seen, growing up – very often. Jongdae looked into the eyes of her first singing teacher with mild surprise, and that was the final piece to a puzzle that had been annoying her for days. She could remember now.

She could remember growing up alongside Kyungsoo, her vocal tutor’s son. The same vocal tutor that happened to be her mother’s best friend. But how had she managed to forget –

Jongdae looked at the man standing beside her. Kyungsoo was too busy watching his mother to see the change in Jongdae’s focus. Why hadn’t he said anything?

“It’s been so long, Jongdae,” Mrs Do said, making Jongdae look away from Kyungsoo and back to the woman in front of her. The older woman pulled her into a brief hug and when she pulled back, she looked between the pair of them with raised eyebrows. “Fiancée?”

Jongdae nodded and cleared her throat slightly, “We’re engaged.”

Mrs Do grinned warmly at the declaration and started to simultaneously quiz her son about their relationship and scold him for keeping it a secret. She kept the pair of them captive for a few more minutes with her questions – questions that Jongdae struggled to answer – before shooing them to Kyungsoo’s old room.

Kyungsoo led the way to his old room and shut the door behind them. Jongdae hovered awkwardly beside the bed before sitting down when she saw the corner of Kyungsoo’s lips tug up in amusement. She looked down at her legs, swinging them slightly as she wondered how to broach the subject. She settled for being blunt.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She didn’t need to specify what she was talking about. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the closed door, “I didn’t think I would have needed to tell you Jongdae – I certainly remembered you.”

“Don’t make me feel guilty,” she muttered slightly petulantly as he straightened up and closed the distance between them. He sat down next to her, his thigh brushing against hers.

“We went to different high schools,” she argued weakly.

“And that’s supposed to excuse completely forgetting my existence?”

“Kyungsoo,” she whined, stopping when she saw the definite upwards curve of his lips. She cleared her throat, “Where’s your dad and brother?”

“Dad should be finishing up at the company right now – he’ll be home soon,” he said with a look at the clock. “And hyung is in China for the rest of the month – he’s seeing to our expansion. But don’t worry, he’ll be back in time for our wedding.”

Right. The wedding. 

Kyungsoo must have seen the way that mentioning the wedding made her expression change, but he made no comment on it. The closer the day came, the more worried she felt. Was this really the right decision to make? 

It was too late to stop it now. They’d already dragged their families into this mess. 

“Are you sure you want a small wedding?” she asked, forcing the thoughts to the back of her mind as she turned to face Kyungsoo.

He was already looking at her. “I thought that was what you wanted?”

“It is,” she assured him. Her family’s financial circumstances couldn’t support a big wedding - the type of wedding she knew her father had always wanted to throw for her - but if she was being honest, Jongdae didn’t want to force more people to take part in the farce. “I do want a small wedding, but you get a say as well Kyungsoo; you’re getting married as well.”

“Well, I’ve been told that a happy wife leads to a happy life.”

Jongdae rolled her eyes, but said nothing further as she rose to her feet. When Kyungsoo had walked into her room, he’d poked his nose around and it was only fair that she did the same. Walking across the room, Jongdae approached one of the shelves that were mounted on the wall and looked down at a picture of two children that were grinning happily at the camera - her and Kyungsoo. She glanced away from the picture to pick up the photo album beside it. 

Glancing over her shoulder slightly, she silently asked for permission to look through it. She wasn’t rude - like some people. Kyungsoo nodded his head and got to his feet, coming to stand behind her. Jongdae ignored his presence behind her and looked through the album, eyes widening when she realised the sheer number of photos that she was actually in. The album documented Kyungsoo’s growth from when he was a newborn all the way to his first day at middle school.

Kyungsoo’s arm came around behind her to turn the page, startling her slightly her slightly with a pensive murmur, “I left some stuff here when I moved into my apartment - I wonder why I forgot to take this with me.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you take that photo album, Kyungsoo,” his mother’s voice said unexpectedly.

Jongdae looked at the now open door to find her future mother-in-law watching the pair of them in fascination. She couldn’t hide her delight at the position she’d found them in. 

“It’s got my pictures in it,” Kyungsoo protested, not seeing Jongdae step away from him to increase the distance between them.

“And I took the pictures,” his mother rebutted, and Jongdae wanted to tell him that no one was able to win an argument against their mother. But she didn’t, she was too busy avoiding the eyes of the woman who was looking at her like she was the greatest gift she’d been given in a while. “You have to leave them behind so I have something to show my grandkids and embarrass you two with.”

Jongdae cleared her throat awkwardly as the older woman laughed at her reaction. Kyungsoo closed the photo album and handed it over to his mum.

“Is dad home yet?”

Mrs Do sighed, “It looks like he won’t make it in time - he’s had to stay back for work.” She returned the album back to its place. “You know what your father’s like.”

“So it runs in the family then?” Jongdae asked, looking over at Kyungsoo. “Am I marrying into a family of workaholics?”

“Unfortunately,” Mrs Do admitted. “But I was the same until I quit teaching. Here’s a word of advice Jongdae; nip the habit in the bud during the first few months of being married or it’ll become a lifelong habit of his.”

“Can you not talk about me as if I’m not here?” Kyungsoo asked, looking between the two women, eyes ultimately lingering on Jongdae. “Besides, I already promised you that I’d be home by seven, didn’t I?”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Jongdae nudged him with her shoulder.

“So little faith in your future husband,” Kyungsoo muttered, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair away from her face. Jongdae met his stare with wide eyes, her heart leaping into her throat at the careless action. 

Mrs Do cleared her throat pointedly, laughing gently when the pair sprung away from each other. “Kyungsoo, your father said he’d come home later and there's no point in letting the food go cold - especially when my daughter-in-law is here.”

**********

The month drew to a close and with it the big day drew closer. With each passing day, Jongdae became more and more anxious. Each day seemed to pass so quickly, her work and her students occupying her mind, to the point where she was getting her hair and makeup done for her wedding before she knew it.

“It looks like you didn’t get much sleep last night,” the makeup artist, who was currently applying her foundation, said knowingly. “I guess you were too excited to get any sleep?”

“It’s something like that,” Jongdae agreed. She’d been too anxious to get any sleep last night. It only became worse when she’d packed the last of her things and found herself suddenly without something to keep her mind occupied. Jongdeok was going to have her things moved into Kyungsoo’s apartment whilst the couple were on their ‘honeymoon’. In reality, they were going to spend the weekend in one of Kyungsoo’s father’s hotels. Her father-in-law knew just how work-orientated his son was and how much Jongdae couldn’t spend a day without her students and had booked the honeymoon suite out for the pair of them – despite their protests.

This was really happening. In a few short hours she’d be married to a man she didn’t love.

She snapped out of her thoughts when a pair of hands were set onto her shoulders. Blinking out of her daze, Jongdae looked into the mirror to meet her mother’s eyes. The older woman gave her a bright smile which she returned slowly.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” her mother asked and Jongdae looked away from the mirror and closed her eyes as the makeup artist lined them.

“I’m nervous,” Jongdae admitted aloud for the first time. “I can’t help but be nervous about what’s going to happen from now on, but that’s normal, isn’t it?”

“Pre-wedding jitters are normal,” her mum reassured her, squeezing her shoulders, “I was nervous when I married your father, but I loved him and that was enough to banish any worries. Just remember your love for Kyungsoo and you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll take your word for it, mum.”

Jongdae opened her eyes, looking towards the door when it opened once again. Kyungsoo’s mother popped her head inside, grinning when she made eye contact with Jongdae. The makeup artist stepped away from Jongdae once she’d finished her job and Jongdae rose from the chair she’d been sitting in. She made her way towards her mother-in-law and took the woman into a hug.

“What are you doing here so early?” Jongdae took the outstretched bouquet of flowers from her mother-in-law and glanced at the clock, “We’ve got another 3 hours until the ceremony.”

“We couldn’t wait at the house any longer,” she admitted as Jongdae’s mother approached the other two women. The two best friends shared an excited smile and Jongdae looked warily between them; they’d be so disappointed if they ever found out.

“We?” Her mother asked in Jongdae’s stead.

“Kyungsoo was getting impatient and decided he'd rather spend the next few hours waiting in the hotel.” Kyungsoo’s mother looked over at Jongdae, “He can’t wait to get married.”

Clearing her throat uncomfortably, Jongdae pretended not to notice the knowing looks the two women threw her way as she approached the dress that was spread out on the bed. Picking up the dress, Jongdae walked into the ensuite and stripped out of her silk dressing gown, the fabric pooling around her feet. Mechanically, she went through the motions of stepping into her dress; the more she thought about what she was doing, the more stressed she’d become.

She clutched the front of the dress to her chest and made her way to the bathroom door, about to call her mum for help. Opening the bathroom door, Jongdae laid eyes on the third woman in the room and a smile made its way on her face.

“Junmyeon,” she called out.

Junmyeon, at the sound of her name, looked over at Jongdae and made her way towards the younger woman. Stepping into the ensuite, Junmyeon shut the door behind her and embraced the younger girl.

“I wasn’t sure you’d be here,” Jongdae admitted, one hand clutching the dress to her and the other wrapping around Junmyeon’s waist.

“I wasn’t sure either,” Junmyeon admitted, releasing Jongdae and stepping around her to button up her wedding dress. “It was a bit out of the blue – all of a sudden I get an invitation to your wedding and I booked the first flight back to Korea as soon as I could. I didn’t even know you were dating again, Dae.”

“It all happened really quickly,” Jongdae admitted truthfully, turning to face Junmyeon once the dress had been zipped to the top.

Junmyeon gave a contemplative hum and dropped her eyes to Jongdae’s stomach. Jongdae wrapped her arms defensively around herself. “Jongdae, you’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No!” she exclaimed incredulously, staring wide-eyed at the woman.

“I was just checking!” Junmyeon said with a small laugh, “It was a rational assumption to make. So, why _are _you rushing this wedding, then?”__

__“I’m not,” she insisted, walking away from the older woman to avoid her probing eyes. Instead she made her way over to the bathroom counter, pretending to fix her hair._ _

__“You can’t hide anything from me, Jongdae,” Junmyeon said quietly, her concern evident to the younger woman. Jongdae met Junmyeon’s eyes through the mirror, “What’s going on? You can tell me.”_ _

__“Only if you tell me why your engagement ring’s gone,” Jongdae returned, just as quietly, eyes dropping to her empty ring finger._ _

__“It’s back in China,” she said with a sigh, “along with Yixing.”_ _

__“Oh, Junmyeon,” Jongdae started to say comfortingly, the words halting when older woman shook her head._ _

__“Today isn’t about me Jongdae, it’s about you and this Mr Do.” Junmyeon crossed her arms over her chest, “And as your maid of honour, I’m not letting this wedding go on until you tell me what’s going on.”_ _

__So she did tell her. Jongdae admitted the truth to Junmyeon, keeping her voice low in case the women in the other room heard her words. As she spoke, she kept a close eye on Junmyeon’s expression and at the first flicker of disappointment, her voice trailed off._ _

__“Jongdae, sweetheart,” Junmyeon said gently, taking her by the shoulders, “What have you gotten yourself into? Do you honestly think that your family would be happy if they knew what you were thinking?”_ _

__“It’s what I have to do,” Jongdae explained quietly, staring down at the ring on her finger. “Besides, Kyungsoo’s a good man.”_ _

__“No matter how good of a man he is, do you love him?”_ _

__She shook her head and tried to muster up a smile. “But he doesn’t love me either.”  
“Jongdae,” Junmyeon sighed, “What are you doing?”_ _

__“It’s alright,” Jongdae reassured her, reaching out to put a hand on her arm and gave it a squeeze. “Trust me on this.”_ _

__A knock on the bathroom interrupted the conversation and the two women looked towards the door. Junmyeon gave Jongdae one last concerned look before she opened the door, and smiled warmly at Kyungsoo’s mother-in-law._ _

__“Is everything alright?” The older woman asked as Junmyeon and Jongdae stepped out of the ensuite, lifting the bottom of her dress as she walked._ _

__“We’re just catching up,” Jongdae assured with a smile as she drifted past her mother-in-law, “-we haven’t seen each other for a while and I guess we lost track of time.”_ _

__“Well we wouldn’t want you to miss your wedding, now would we?”_ _

__“We wouldn’t,” Junmyeon agreed quietly meeting Jongdae’s eyes as she sat back down in front of the mirror._ _

__Slipping her feet into her shoes, Jongdae completed the straps and looked away from the older woman. She sat back up, watching as Junmyeon approached her to fix her veil in place. Rearranging the veil, Junmyeon looked down at Jongdae._ _

__“You better know what you’re doing Jongdae.”_ _

__She hoped so, too._ _

__Jongdae didn’t voice her thoughts. Instead, she smiled at Junmyeon and took one last glance at the clock. Rising to her feet, Jongdae smiled at the three women looking back at her. Her smile wavered slightly once she’d made eye contact with Junmyeon and she let out a shaky breath._ _

__“Let’s get this show on the road?”_ _

__Just like that, the two mothers were sharing a grin and ushering her towards the door. Jongdae slowed her steps on purpose, as they approached the door. Her mother opened the door and gestured for someone to walk into the room. Her father stepped into the room moments later and took a long look at his only daughter. She shifted under his eyes until he gave her a heartfelt smile, taking her into his arms._ _

__Jongdae returned his hug and laughed quietly when he muttered, “I should probably let go now. Your mum will kill me if I crease your dress in any way.”_ _

__“So let go then, dad?” she muttered back, but made no move to let go of her father either._ _

__“Come along, you drama queens,” Jongdeok announced loudly as he stepped into the room._ _

__Father and daughter finally separated, both turning to look at Jongdeok. But Jongdeok was too busy looking at the unexpected figure in the room._ _

__“Junmyeon,” he said quietly, fiddling with his tie. Jongdae’s mother ushered her mother-in-law out of the room and Jongdae watched as Junmyeon gave her brother a smile._ _

__“Jongdeok,” she greeted back, picking up the bouquet lying on the bed. “How have you been?”_ _

__“As well as I can be,” he replied, shifting awkwardly on his feet. He cleared his throat and asked with a small smile, “how’s Yixing?”_ _

__Junmyeon’s smile faltered slightly. “He’s good, still busy with work.”_ _

__Silence filled the room and Jongdae linked her arm through her brother’s. Jongdeok looked down at his sister with a smile, a more natural one than the one he’d given to Junmyeon. He scanned Jongdae from head to toe and frowned._ _

__“What?” she asked self-consciously, looking down at her dress._ _

__“You look too beautiful,” he said seriously, shocking Jongdae into silence. “I don’t think I can give you away to Kyungsoo.”_ _

__“You’re not the one giving me away,” she reminded him as she made a face up at him. “Are the guests here yet?”_ _

__Jongdeok nodded. “It’s close family and friends only – just like you wanted.” With another glance in Junmyeon’s direction, Jongdeok gave her hand a squeeze. “Dad will be waiting downstairs, take your time. If you change your mind, just give me a sign during the ceremony and I’ll take you away.”_ _

__Jongdae rolled her eyes and pushed him out of the room. She turned back to look at Junmyeon once her brother had left and found her looking down at the smaller bouquet held in her arms. Junmyeon looked up at her with a small smile._ _

__“Should we get going?”_ _

__Jongdae nodded her head and together, the pair of them walked out of the room and headed towards the lift. Once they had reached it, Junmyeon pressed the button for the ground floor and attempted to make small talk with Jongdae in order to ease her nerves. It didn’t work well. Instead, Jongdae found herself repeatedly clenching and unclenching her fists around the bouquet again and again._ _

__The elevator beeped quietly and once they approached the ground floor and Jongdae let out a deep breath. Before the metal doors could slide open, Junmyeon pressed the button to stop the doors from opening. The elevator screeched to a stop and Jongdae looked at the older woman with wide eyes._ _

__“Junmyeon?”_ _

__“Look me in the eyes Jongdae,” Junmyeon demanded, her stare rooting the younger girl to her position. “I can’t let you go through with this after what you’ve told me. This is serious, marriage is a serious thing.”_ _

__“It’s only for a year,” Jongdae protested, her voice trailing off at the sight of Junmyeon’s stare._ _

__“Do you hear yourself?” Junmyeon sighed, gently putting an arm of her hand and squeezing it comfortingly. “This isn’t the same girl that was so eager to marry Baekhyun. What’s changed?”_ _

__“The groom?” Jongdae suggested offhandedly before straightening up under Junmyeon’s stare. “Just trust me, it’ll be fine. Kyungsoo and I have already discussed it all and-”_ _

__“Tell me that you won’t regret this.” Jongdae avoided Junmyeon’s eyes and nodded her head. “I’m being serious here, Dae. Tell me you won’t regret this and I’ll let you walk out of this elevator without a moment’s hesitation.”_ _

__“I can’t tell you that,” Jongdae argued. She looked back at the older woman and gave her what she thought was a reassuring smile. “I can’t say that I won’t regret this because I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’ll be because of a choice _I _made, not one that other people made for me. Whatever consequences there are, I’ll be the one to deal with them.”___ _

____Junmyeon stared at her silently for a moment before sighing. She pressed another button and the elevator arrived at the first floor, the doors opening. She stepped back to Jongdae’s side and Jongdae gave the older girl a thankful smile. With Junmyeon by her side, it would be a little less difficult to go through with it._ _ _ _

____They stepped out of the elevator together and Jongdae turned to find her dad standing there anxiously. He was situated by the doors to the venue, straightening up his tie when they approached him. At the sight of his daughter, her father rose to his full height and held out his arm. Jongdae slipped her arm in his and stood by his side. The three of them stood, waiting for the cue to enter the room and when they were given said cue, Junmyeon walked inside first and left father and daughter alone. The doors closed behind Junmyeon, but not before Jongdae caught sight of the room full of people on the other side._ _ _ _

____She let out a deep breath to steady her nerves when her father called her name. Looking up at him, she smiled instinctively._ _ _ _

____“If you waited just a little longer, Jongdae, then I could have given you the wedding you wanted,” he frowned heavily. “There’s so much more that I wanted to be able to give you.”_ _ _ _

____“This is perfect,” Jongdae insisted, reaching out to push the corners of his mouth up into a smile. “Besides, you know what I get like in front of a big crowd of people.”_ _ _ _

____“As long as you’re happy,” her father managed to say before they were given the signal to enter the room._ _ _ _

____The double doors opened and Jongdae went to step into the room, stopping when her father held her back. She looked back at him cautiously, only to smile sheepishly when he lowered the veil over her face. He offered her his arm once again, and arm in arm they made their way to the end of the aisle. She kept her eyes on the ground, too worried that she might not only trip over her dress and fall face first, but also take her father with her. She couldn’t risk it. Only once they had reached the end of the aisle and her hand was placed in someone else’s, did she raise her eyes._ _ _ _

____She looked up into warm brown eyes and couldn’t look away from them as he led her the rest of the way and turned her to face him. He was clearly a much better actor than she was. But still, Jongdae couldn’t look away from his eyes as he lifted the veil from her face. Before she knew it, it was time for her to recite her vows and Jongdae managed to make her way through them without stuttering. Kyungsoo followed suit and they exchanged their rings and Jongdae’s heart thumped in her chest as the moment she dreaded the most crept closer._ _ _ _

____“You may now kiss the bride.”_ _ _ _

____Kyungsoo smiled, so genuinely that it threw Jongdae off a little. She bit down on her bottom lip nervously as his hands came up to frame her face, tilting it up slightly to lessen the strain on his neck. Bringing his head down, he kept his eyes on hers on his descent, and Jongdae released her bottom lip. His eyes flickered down to her lips and Jongdae swallowed nervously before he took her lips in a short, chaste kiss. He pulled back from her, only far enough that their noses were touching and leaned down to press another kiss to her lips at the sound of applause from their guests. This kiss, their second, lasted longer than their first but was just as chaste. Jongdae saw Kyungsoo close his eyes and followed suit, only to open them when he pulled away fully._ _ _ _

____Jongdae stared up at Kyungsoo, now her husband, in partially concealed shocked as he led her towards their reception. Their reception, also held in her father-in-law’s hotel, was an intimate affair. They had shared their first dance, or rather they had tried to. Jongdae had been pulled away from the dance by her father-in-law and had been passed around her family members ever since. She had been dancing with her father and simultaneously fighting against the urge to sleep when Kyungsoo appeared at her side to pull her away and out of the room._ _ _ _

____Jongdae tried to protest as he led her towards the elevator. “But the guests-”_ _ _ _

____“Will continue to celebrate without us,” he assured her as they both clambered onto the elevator. “Right now, it's my priority to make sure that you get some sleep. You seem tired, Jongdae.”_ _ _ _

____“I'm fine.”_ _ _ _

____Kyungsoo met her protests with the roll of his eyes as they made their way up to the honeymoon suite. Unlocking the room with the key, Kyungsoo walked confidently into the room and Jongdae followed more hesitantly behind him. Before she got a chance to look around the suite, Kyungsoo took her hand in his and led her to the bedroom._ _ _ _

____“Some of our stuff was brought up here,” he explained, undoing the bow tie from around his neck. “I'm going to freshen up in the bathroom and get ready for bed. Why don't you do the same? Mum said you woke up at 4 am, so you've been awake for almost 18 hours now - you need the sleep.”_ _ _ _

____She agreed silently and waited until Kyungsoo had shut the bathroom door behind him before she started to get changed. She sat down at the dresser beside the bed and slowly pulled each of the bobby pins from her hair and each of the hair ties. Her hair tumbled down her back in waves from the bun, and she massaged some of the tension from her scalp as she kicked off her heels. Rising to her feet, Jongdae reached around to try and undo the long row of buttons lining the back of her dress when she heard the bathroom door open. Through the mirror she could see Kyungsoo emerge from the bathroom in his pyjamas trousers and a plain white, short sleeved tshirt._ _ _ _

____She very briefly met his eyes through the mirror, looked away instantly and continued her struggle with the buttons. She had managed to undo the first two and couldn’t reach the rest. He chuckled lightly and approached her._ _ _ _

____“Let me help you,” he offered and despite her many protests, he took a button between his fingers, meeting her eyes through the mirror._ _ _ _

____He undid each of the buttons slowly, one by one, and Jongdae wasn't sure if it was done on purpose or not, but she swore she could feel his knuckles brushing against her bare back. The slightest of contact sent frissons of heat to her stomach and she sucked in a breath, all too aware of the male figure behind her. His hand dropped back to his side once he'd undone the final button and Jongdae let out a deep breath, clutching the dress to her chest._ _ _ _

____“You know,” Kyungsoo started conversationally, hands coming to rest on her hips. Jongdae felt her heart start to pump wildly under her skin and tried to discreetly take a breath. He kept his eyes on Jongdae’s through the mirror. “You looked very beautiful today.”_ _ _ _

____She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”_ _ _ _

____“Don't mention it,” he hummed gently. He stopped, contemplating something before he dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder. The action was quick, barely lasting more than a second, but it scorched Jongdae to her core. He pulled back with a smile. “Now hurry to bed, wife.”_ _ _ _

____**********_ _ _ _

____Once their ‘honeymoon’ weekend passed, it was back to normality for the couple. Or as normal as life could have been. Jongdae had moved into Kyungsoo's apartment and had never felt so out of place in a place that was supposed to be home. Kyungsoo had driven them 'home' and Jongdae needed to pack away all of her things. But apparently, Kyungsoo had seen over that already. That information had only panicked Jongdae - had Kyungsoo seen her underwear? If he had, then it would be mortifying. But Jongdae hadn't commented on it._ _ _ _

____If Kyungsoo didn't say anything, then she wouldn't make any assumptions._ _ _ _

____Monday morning had approached quickly and Jongdae jumped at the chance to get out of the apartment. She had woken up early on purpose, to try and leave the apartment before Kyungsoo woke up. But, to her surprise, her husband was already awake and was in the kitchen, making breakfast. At the sound of her approaching footsteps, he turned to looked over his shoulder at her._ _ _ _

____"You're up early," he remarked and Jongdae ran a hand self-consciously through her bed hair. Although they slept in the same bed - with a pillow barrier erected between them, at Jongdae's insistence - she couldn't acclimatise to Kyungsoo seeing her at her most vulnerable._ _ _ _

____"You too," she returned, stepping into the kitchen to help him._ _ _ _

____Seeing her approach, he shook his head and gestured for her to take a seat. Doing as she was instructed, Jongdae settled at the table and thanked him quietly when he handed her a mug. She raised it to her lips and made a face at the smell of coffee that assaulted her nose._ _ _ _

____Kyungsoo chuckled as stepped towards the table, two plates of food in his hands. "I thought you liked coffee - you seem to drink endless cups of it at Minseok hyung’s shop."_ _ _ _

____"For your information," she muttered, watching him as he sat down across from her, "I never drink more than a couple of sips from it. The coffee always goes cold and oppa brings back another, instead of reheating it."_ _ _ _

____"And you never told him that you didn't like coffee because...?"_ _ _ _

____"Because Minseok and Luhan will kill me for not sharing their passion for all things caffeinated."_ _ _ _

____"That's a bit of an overreaction."_ _ _ _

____"You clearly don't know Luhan oppa very well." Jongdae took a bite of Kyungsoo's cooking for the first time and almost moaned aloud. She'd been hoping that his food would be barely palatable, that way he wouldn't be too disappointed when he tasted her food for the first time._ _ _ _

____"Is it good?" he asked, watching her reaction._ _ _ _

____Jongdae nodded, giving him a smile. "It's really good."_ _ _ _

____"I'm glad."_ _ _ _

____Jongdae watched the man - her husband - begin to eat and wondered where the man she'd met in Minseok's coffee shop had disappeared to. He hadn't made an appearance in a while and she'd like to keep it that way._ _ _ _

____"Jongdae," Kyungsoo called out, pulling her from her thoughts, "what does your schedule look like today?"_ _ _ _

____"Not that busy actually," she murmured contemplatively. "My last lesson ends at 3, by the time I leave school it'll be 4. So I should be home by 5."_ _ _ _

____She pretended not to see the way he reacted at her addressing his apartment as her home._ _ _ _

____"And I'll be back by 7, as promised." He raised an eyebrow at her. "So, because you're going to be home 2 hours before I am, will I get a chance to taste your cooking?"_ _ _ _

____"Maybe," she muttered vaguely. Suddenly, she wasn't all that keen to cook for him._ _ _ _

____Once they had finished their breakfast, they both got ready to head to work and went their separate ways. After parking in the school car park, Jongdae hesitated before getting out of the car. She glanced down at her ring finger and sighed - she was going to get so much stick from her co workers. Bracing herself, she dismounted from her car and headed into the school building. Navigating her way to the music corridor, she found her classroom and started to set up for the day._ _ _ _

____She was placing the worksheets for her first class on the desk when someone walked into the room. Glancing up at the coworker in the door, Jongdae made a face that the man couldn't see. Great, it was already starting._ _ _ _

____"So," Sehun said as he leaned against the door. "Rumour has it that you got married last Friday."_ _ _ _

____"And if I did?" she asked watching as Sehun walked further into the room and approached her desk._ _ _ _

____Once he had reached her desk, he glanced down at her left hand that was still on the desk. Sehun looked up with a smirk. "And why didn't you tell or invite anyone?"_ _ _ _

____"We wanted it to be a simple, private event," she gave the answer she'd rehearsed over and over again._ _ _ _

____"You cow," Sehun swatted at her arm, "here I was thinking that we're friends but you don't even invite me to your wedding."_ _ _ _

____"I'll invite you to my next one."_ _ _ _

____Sehun made a face at her words. "Is there already trouble in paradise?" Jongdae shook her head. "I'll drop the topic, but tell me - how was the honeymoon?"_ _ _ _

____"It was ... fun," she said lamely._ _ _ _

____What else was she supposed to say? Both her and her workaholic husband were busy working over the whole weekend and the only time they had spoken to each other was when they were eating. It had definitely been _some _honeymoon.___ _ _ _

______But apparently her answer had been enough for Sehun who smirked knowingly at her. "Well I'm glad you had ... _fun _. Just remember to use protection."___ _ _ _ _ _

________She called out his name warningly and he laughed, holding his hands up in surrender as he backed out of the room. And that had only been the start of her problems._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Sehun, the notorious blabber mouth, had spread the news far and wide and it got to the point where not a single lesson passed without one of her students referring to it. So far she far been asked if she was pregnant four times, had been congratulated a dozen times and had had three wedding presents shoved into her arms._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The day thankfully drew to an end and Jongdae found herself actually looking forward to going home - to Kyungsoo's apartment. She managed to somehow walk into the parking lot, carrying the 'wedding gifts' and her student’s work simultaneously. Getting them into the apartment was thankfully easier than getting them into her car had been. Kicking the door shut behind her, Jongdae put the gifts on the kitchen table and headed into their room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She needed to get into some comfortable clothes before she attempted to embarrass herself by trying to cook. Opening the closet, Jongdae glanced over at his side and let out a scoff at the colour coordinated clothes - because of course Do Kyungsoo would be particular about that. Of course his side would be colour coordinated - they were different shades of black, but they were still colour coordinated. Looking back to her side of the closet, Jongdae pulled out some more comfortable clothes to change into._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Once she had changed, Jongdae approached the kitchen with trepidation. It wasn't that she was a bad chef, her food was edible. It just wasn't the standard that Kyungsoo's appeared to be at. Chewing on her bottom lip, Jongdae took the apron that was hanging on the wall and tied it around her waist._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She glanced at the clock - Kyungsoo would be home in an hour and she needed to get a move on. Looking around the kitchen, she managed to locate where the rice was kept and washed some in the rice cooker. It wasn't like she'd burn rice._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________But she did._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She had managed to miss the timer and the machine hadn't switched off like it was supposed to have. And half an hour later, she was staring down at a burnt pot of rice. In her haste to throw the rice away and start a new batch, Jongdae hadn't been paying attention to the soup on the stove. She hadn't noticed it boil over and stain the spotless cooker beneath it. Her husband, the neat freak, was going to kill her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Running quickly towards the stove, she picked up the pan and moved it to an unlit hob. Peering down into the pot, she let out a deep sigh; it was unsalvageable. None of it was going according to plan._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________As if he taking a cue from the script of one of Shakespeare's tragedies, Kyungsoo walked through the front door right that moment._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Honey, I'm home," he called out loudly, a bouquet of flowers clutched in his hand._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jongdae stepped out of the kitchen and eyed the flowers. "What's with the flowers?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kyungsoo shrugged out of his coat and hung it up before he approached his wife. He stopped in front of her and held out the flowers for her to take. "Aren't you surprised I'm early?" he asked as Jongdae raised the bouquet to get a whiff, internally complaining that he had picked such an inopportune moment to come home. "And the flowers are because it seemed like the right thing to do."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He tried to walk into the kitchen and Jongdae stood to block his way, arms outstretched on either side of her. Looking down at her with a raised eyebrow, Kyungsoo waited silently for an explanation._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jongdae floundered. "Did you see the gifts on the table? They're from my coworkers."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder at said gifts. "I saw them on the way in and was about to ask you about them." He turned back to face her and made to walk around her. Jongdae moved to block his path. "I need a glass of water, Jongdae."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Why don't you relax for a minute?" she suggested. "You've just come home from a long day of work. Relax in the living room or something and I'll bring you a glass of water."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at her and walked into the kitchen before she could hope to stop him. She heard his sharp intake of breath and swore under her breath before heading into the kitchen after him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I know it looks bad," she started, trailing off as she watched him survey his once spotless kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"What happened?" he asked calmly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I'm not sure," she admitted, making Kyungsoo sigh. "I'm not a bad cook, honestly Soo, I'm not, but for some reason nothing's been going right today. I think your kitchen hates me." Kyungsoo turned to look at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "What?" she asked defensively._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Soo," he repeated. "You just called me Soo."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Sorry," she apologised tentatively._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"It didn't say I didn't like it," he pointed out and held out his hand. "Take off the apron; I'll cook dinner tonight. You can clean up the mess you made."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jongdae watched him incredulously as he made his way effortlessly through the kitchen. She made a face when he threw her food in the bin but made no comment on the action. He cleaned up as he went, minimising Jongdae's workload. Heading towards the sink, Jongdae started to wash the dishes when her phone rang. Excusing herself quietly to pick up her phone, Jongdae left Kyungsoo alone in the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Mum," she greeted once she'd picked up the phone. "How are you?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I miss you, of course," her mother responded. "I can't believe you haven't called once since the wedding - but I guess my son-in-law has been keeping you busy."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Mum!" Jongdae exclaimed in shock, her mother only laughed in response. "You're in a good mood today."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"That's because there's good news to share."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Good news?" Jongdae repeated cautiously._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"We're officially no longer bankrupt," her mother declared, and Jongdae could hear the smile in her voice. She couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face because of those words. "Of course it'll take some time to get the company back to where it used to be but -"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Mum, that's amazing news," Jongdae cut in, just as Kyungsoo called out for her from the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"It sounds like he wants you," her mother said in parting. "I'll talk to you again soon, sweetheart."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Bye Mum."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Hanging up the phone, Jongdae walked back into the kitchen where Kyungsoo was busy at the stove. She headed back to the sink only to find the everything had already been washed up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"You called for me?" Jongdae asked as she leaned against the counter. She would have helped him, but something told her that she would be more of hindrance than a help._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I was just wondering where you went off to," he replied, raising a spoon to his lips to taste test what he was cooking._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"I was talking to mum." Kyungsoo dipped the spoon back into his soup and blew on it a few times before holding it out for Jongdae to taste._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"And how is my mother in law?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"She's very happy." Jongdae said with a large smile. "The company is no longer bankrupt and we couldn't have done it without your help."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Don't be ridiculous," Kyungsoo admonished, lowering the heat and turning his body to face Jongdae. "Your brother and father had some really good ideas to save the company, they just didn't have the money to carry them out. Once that money was accessible to them, they were able to save the company all by themselves."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Jongdae stared at her husband in silence for a few moments, wondering what to do before she made up her mind and took him into her arms. She felt Kyungsoo stiffen as her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed her body against his. He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his own arms around her waist to return hey embrace._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Thank you, " Jongdae said sincerely, the words quietly muttered against his neck._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"You’re welcome."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She went to pull away from him but found herself unable to; his arms kept her pressed against him. Jongdae's hands slid down from around his neck to rest against his chest. Her heart did that annoying pounding thing again when she realised that Kyungsoo was staring straight at her. She swallowed nervously and looked cautiously up at him from beneath her eyelashes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Kyungsoo dipped his head down to claim her lips, and Jongdae fisted his shirt in her hands. He pulled away a moment later, looking down into Jongdae's confused eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He kissed her again, hands leaving her waist to rest on the counter behind her to crowd her against it. Jongdae, for all of her internal confusion, melted against him and surrendered to the warmth his touch caused. It was only when his tongue darted out to swipe against her bottom lip that Jongdae snapped out it and pulled back away from him. She backed as far away from him as she could, and that wasn't very far._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She grabbed the counter behind her for balance, startling when her hand brushed against his. Clearing her throat and trying to ignore the heavy stare aimed at her face, Jongdae looked away from him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Her voice was quiet as she asked, "Why?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Can't a man kiss his wife?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A man that loved his wife could kiss her as many times as he wanted, Jongdae thought. Kyungsoo didn't love her, and she didn't love him, right?_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Now if only she could tell her heart that._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	3. Mutually Beneficial (3/3)

Now Jongdae wasn't a coward. And because she wasn't a coward, Jongdae was willing to face her ever growing feelings for Kyungsoo head on. By that, she meant that she was doing her very best to avoid getting herself in a situation where he'd kiss her again and take away all of her mental functioning. Instead, she went to Luhan - of all people - for advice.

Luhan, ditching Minseok for the day, arrived at their apartment, arms laden with her favourite ice cream and sweets. Thankfully, because it was a Saturday, Jongdae didn't have work, but Kyungsoo did. After being married to Kyungsoo, Jongdae had quickly snatched her time alone during the weekends as her own, private time. This week she'd used the time to invite Luhan around to vent and get some advice because, as strange as Luhan could be at times, Jongdae would always rather go to him for advice than to Minseok.

Luhan had eaten lunch with Minseok before promptly ditching him and driving over to Jongdae's apartment. Jongdae opened the door at his incessant ringing of the doorbell and stepped aside to let him in. Rushing towards the kitchen table, he dumped the shopping bags he'd brought with him onto the wooden surface. He turned to look at Jongdae, leaning against the table and crossing his arms.

"I've bought all of the essentials," he started, turning to rummage through the shopping bags. "What first? Ice cream or chocolate?"

"How about both?" Jongdae suggested, closing the front door and approaching the man.

Luhan made a face. "It's that serious, then?"

"I'm afraid it is." Her voice was grave.

Luhan sighed and reached into another shopping bag to pull out a wine bottle with one hand and some instant coffee with the other. "Does the situation call for wine? And if it does, then I need to call Minseok to beat Kyungsoo up. Or can we settle for coffee?"

Jongdae shook her head and sat down at the table. "Coffee should be fine."

Luhan nodded and headed over to the coffee maker. He made the coffee, grumbling under his breath about how instant coffee held nothing against Minseok's coffee as he did so. Jongdae rose to her feet to pull two mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counter beside Luhan. Then she pulled out two spoons and returned to the table, opening the ice cream tub. Cookie dough; her favourite.

She dug her spoon into the tub and thought back to the first time she had approached Luhan for advice. She had gone to the older man about dating advice regarding her relationship with Baekhyun and he'd pulled out an ice cream tub and a mug of coffee. At the time she had commented on how odd the combination was, but now it was characteristic of their little sessions.

Luhan returned to the table with two mugs and set one in front of Jongdae, before sitting next to her. He took a sip from his cup, eyes drifting to the open ice cream tub.

"You bitch," he muttered without any heat, "I can't believe you started without me."

Jongdae rolled her eyes and took another spoonful of the ice cream. "I don't feel like venting first, so why don't you start?"

"What makes you think that I have something to vent about?"

She narrowed her eyes at him before thing two sips from her coffee. That was enough coffee to last her awhile. "Because you didn't call Minseok oppa as soon as you stepped foot in my apartment.”

"Minseok has commitment issues," he remarked as thought it was new knowledge to both of them. "I've always known that and never pushed him for anything."

"But?" she prompted, putting her spoon on the table.

"But I don't know if I can keep doing this after 4 years?"

"And what exactly is 'doing this'?"

Jongdae watched as Luhan looked down into his coffee mug, thumb rubbing against the ceramic handle. He let out a sigh, shoulders dropping as he let Jongdae see his uncharacteristically solemn expression.

"I've spent the past 4 years - no, even longer than that - trying to break past the walls he's put up and just when I think I'm getting somewhere he slams up another one." Luhan sighed again. "We got into an argument yesterday and today, during lunch, he acted as if it never happened. I just wanted to grab him and shake him by the shoulders."

Jongdae reached out to put a hand on top of his. "What did you argue about?"

He chuckled bitterly at her words. "He found the ring, Jongdae, and he instantly knew what it was. Before I could even say a word, he'd panicked and shut himself off. He started shouting at one point that marriage wasn't where we were heading."

Jongdae furrowed her eyebrows; what did that mean? "And where exactly are you headed then?"

"I asked him the same thing." Luhan rubbed a hand across his face. "He didn't have an answer."

"Oppa-"

"Anyway," Luhan brightened up instantly, slamming his defences back up. He and Minseok were more alike than he thought. "I've done my fair share of venting; it's your turn now."

Jongdae turned her eyes away from the older man and onto the wooden table surface. She traced her fingertip against the wooden grain and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I think I'm falling in love with Kyungsoo."

There was silence.

Jongdae raised her eyes back up to Luhan and straightened up at the sight of Luhan's unimpressed raised eyebrow. He folded his arms and pursed his lips around the ice cream spoon that was still in his mouth.

"What?" she muttered defensively, picking up her spoon and pulling the ice cream tub towards herself.

"Here I am, pouring my heart out to you about my rubbish boyfriend and you come to me with such a small concern." He snatched the ice cream tub back from her. "Oh boo hoo, you're falling in love with your husband."

Jongdae stared at him in shock, mouth parted slightly. "Do you not understand how bad this is?"

"Be real with me here," Luhan said, pointing his dirty spoon in Jongdae's direction. "What's so bad about falling in love with your husband?"

"Maybe the fact that this is a fake relationship?"

Again Luhan rolled his eyes and Jongdae was _this _close to shoving her spoon in his eyes. "In what way is this a fake relationship? The two of you are married, you live together, eat together, sleep in the same bed together. God, how is that not a real relationship?"__

__"Because we don't love each other?"_ _

__Luhan scoffed, taking a big scoop of the ice cream and shoving it into his mouth. He spoke with his mouth full, "Oh please, I thought we'd already established that you were falling for him. We already know that Kyungsoo is in love with you - he always has been. That's not exactly news, Jongdae."_ _

__Well it was certainly news to her._ _

__"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, brows creasing in confusion. Surely, there was some mistake somewhere. Luhan had to have gotten his wires crossed or misunderstood something, somewhere along the line._ _

__"Jongdae," Luhan began seriously, so seriously that she had almost believed his previous words. Almost. "Kyungsoo is in love with you - do you honestly think that Minseok would get you hitched to him if he thought he didn't? When Minseok first proposed the idea to me, I admit that I was against it. But from what I've heard from Minseok and from Kyungsoo himself, the man is in love with you and has always been."_ _

__"What do you mean?" she could only ask dumbly, her hands becoming clammy as she held them together._ _

__Luhan fixed his eyes onto hers, trying to convey how serious he was. "Do you know why Kyungsoo agreed to this plan?"_ _

__"Because he wanted his parents to stop setting him up with random girls?"_ _

__"There's that," Luhan acknowledged, "but he wasn't going to even consider the idea before he'd heard your name. And once he had realised that it was you, well, then he agreed in a heartbeat. Of course at this point he thought that you had already agreed - Minseok's idea, not mine - and was more than a little stunned when you walked out on him in Minseok's coffee shop."_ _

__"I don't believe you."_ _

__And she didn't. She didn't believe that Kyungsoo was in love with her, because he couldn't be. He wasn't the type of person to wear his heart on his sleeve, like Jongdae was, but he'd shown no inclination of liking her in a way that was more than physical attraction. He liked to kiss her, sure, but that was about it. Besides, what kind of a man would agree to marry the woman he 'loved' for a year only to divorce her?_ _

__God, not even three months into their year of marriage and Jongdae was catching one-sided feelings._ _

__"I get that you're not willing to open your heart up after Baekhyun, I do," Luhan started only to trail off when he saw the face Jongdae made._ _

__"This isn't about Baekhyun." And it wasn't. "This is Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo, alone."_ _

__It was odd, without her knowing, somewhere along the line the mention of Baekhyun hadn't twinged as much as it used to. And now, it didn't twinge or hurt at all. She didn't get the same fluttering feeling in her stomach when she thought about his smile or his laugh, and she didn't feel the same heart wrenching pain when she remembered that they were over. She felt none of that. Somewhere along the line she had gotten over Baekhyun - only to fall for someone that could hurt her so much more than the latter ever could._ _

__"So what are you going to do then, Jongdae?" The question pulled her from her musings and she looked back to Luhan. He absentmindedly traced circles on the table top as he waited for her answer._ _

__"Crush these feelings into oblivion," she decided, "if I can keep them locked up inside of me for the rest of the year, then there's no way they can grow anymore or cause awkwardness."_ _

__"So you're going to run away from your feelings," he surmised._ _

__Jongdae nodded, because what else could she do? "I mean, it's not like I'm in love with Kyungsoo."_ _

__"No," Luhan agreed, drawing the word out for effect, "you're falling in love with him."_ _

__"Exactly."_ _

__"What are you talking about?" The voice that uttered the words alone, was enough for Jongdae to stiffen. The words hadn't been said by Luhan or Jongdae - they had come from somewhere behind them. Luhan's eyes drifted passed Jongdae and towards the man who had spoken._ _

__"Kyungsoo," Luhan greeted, eyes flickering to Jongdae who was too busy wanting to crawl into a hole and die._ _

__She glanced over at the clock and let out a deep breath. He was over three hours early. Why, of all days, did he pick today to come home early?_ _

__"Luhan hyung," Kyungsoo greeted back, voice cautious._ _

__Jongdae gathered up her courage, having had enough of the prodding looks she was getting from Luhan, and rose to her feet. She turned to face her husband who stood on the entry of the kitchen, his suit jacket slung over one arm and his briefcase on the floor. He had a bouquet of flowers in the other hand - what was it with him and flowers?_ _

__"You're home early," she said uselessly, hands clinging to the back of the chair she had been sitting on. She couldn't meet his eyes._ _

__"I am," he agreed looking, for once, like he was uncertain of what to say. "I rushed to finish my work early so I could come home early and managed to get tomorrow off - it's your birthday."_ _

__"Oh."_ _

__She bit down on her bottom lip, wondering how to get out of this situation, when she saw Luhan gather his stuff._ _

__"I'm just going to give you some privacy," he muttered, rushing out of the kitchen._ _

__From over Kyungsoo's shoulder, he gave Jongdae two thumbs up and a whispered cheer of encouragement before fleeing from her home. He was such a troublemaker. First he made this mess and now he was running away. Once she heard the front door shut, Jongdae cleared her throat._ _

__"Why don't you go and freshen up?" she suggested, not looking directly into his eyes. She instead, looked at his nose. She wanted to sweep this all under the rug._ _

__"No," he shook his head, picking up his briefcase and walking further into the kitchen. Jongdae backed up from him as he put his briefcase on the table and came to a stop beside the table. She rounded the other side of the table - it was like her embarrassment grew, the closer he was to her._ _

__"No?" she repeated, swallowing dryly as he closed the distance between them, laying his jacket across the back of a chair. Jongdae rooted her feet to the ground and forced herself to stay where she was._ _

__"No," he agreed as he gathered his wits, "what did I just walk in on?"_ _

__"Luhan oppa and I were just catching up," she explained quietly._ _

__"You were talking about something that involved me?"_ _

__Jongdae clung to the beam of hope that his words instilled in her. "You didn't hear what we were talking about?"_ _

__Kyungsoo's eyes narrowed slightly at the hopeful tone of her voice. He shook his head, "No, I did. I just want to hear you say it yourself."_ _

__"Why?" she asked defensively, watching him closely as he tried to press closer to her. Jongdae backed away from him slightly. "If you heard it all, then you already know."_ _

__"But I want to hear you say it, Jongdae," he reiterated. He sounded more confident now, more sure of himself and Jongdae disliked him more for it. "Say it and I might actually let myself believe it."_ _

__She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. It was obvious that she wouldn't be getting out of this situation without telling Kyungsoo what he thought he wanted to hear. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to run away like she'd originally wanted to._ _

__"Well?" he prompted, walking around her to crowd her into the table. She swallowed nervously._ _

__"Why are you so desperate to hear me say it?" she tried to avoid it for a moment longer before sighing. "Fine, Do Kyungsoo, I'm falling in love with you and it is the single most stupid thing I could ever do."_ _

__"Why?" He cocked his head to the side, arms coming round to take a hold of her waist. She glanced down at the hands on her hips before looking back into his eyes. "Why is it stupid?"_ _

__"Because it's not what's supposed to happen," she insisted. "This wasn't part of the plan. We get married for a year, spend that year platonically, and eventually part ways."_ _

__"It's not supposed to happen?" he repeated and Jongdae narrowed her eyes at him. What was he; a parrot? Her annoyance was quickly wiped away as he stepped closer to her, hands trailing up her side to rest against her rib cage. "Who said it wasn't supposed to happen?"_ _

__"Because it wasn't," she suggested quietly. "That was the plan?"_ _

__"That was , _your_ plan." __

___Jongdae's breath hitched as one of his hands skimmed across the side of her breast to rest against her neck, thumb rubbing across her jaw. "It - it wasn't part of yours?"_ _ _

___"It wasn't." That startled her. Jongdae reared back from him making his hand drop from her face._ _ _

___"What do you mean it wasn't?" she demanded heatedly._ _ _

___"You might dislike me for it," he started to explain, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "But look at it from my point of view; I was offered the chance to marry the woman of my dreams for a year. You can't blame a man for taking advantage of the situation, Jongdae - I promised myself that I'd try to get you to fall for me within the year and if I couldn't do it, then I'd give up on you once and for all."_ _ _

___"Wait, wait," she protested when he started to lean down, "If this is some sort of game Kyungsoo-"_ _ _

___"It's no game," he swore firmly, "Do you know how long I've been in love with you?" At the shake of her head, he smiled gently. "Since middle school - I sat there through the boyfriends, through Baekhyun, through you forgetting my existence."_ _ _

___He grinned playfully when she scoffed in annoyance at him reminding her._ _ _

___"So," she started cautiously, "where do we go from here?"_ _ _

___"Well we're married, legally," Kyungsoo reminded her, hands coming up to frame her face. His proximity wasn't helping her right now. "So let's just keep doing that."_ _ _

___His words sounded reasonable and she almost agreed as he drew closer. Tipping her head up towards him, Jongdae felt her eyes flutter shut as his lips drew ever closer. His words filtered through her head and her eyes snapped open. She pressed a hand against his lips, stopping them from meeting her own. He drew back in surprise, raising an eyebrow._ _ _

___"So, no dating. We go straight into marriage?" She tilted her head to the side in confusion._ _ _

___"We're married already Jongdae," he reminded her indulgently, head dipping down to press a kiss against her pulse point._ _ _

___"Kyungsoo," she had intended for the breathy whisper to come out as a protest. "It's not the same."_ _ _

___"Of course," he agreed, the words muttered against her skin. "So let's just stay married and if it doesn't work out then we'll go from there." He trailed his teeth against her skin, sending a shiver through her. "Does that sound ok?"_ _ _

___She nodded, head muddled as he pulled away from her fully. He was grinning widely and Jongdae was rewarded with that heart shaped smile of his._ _ _

___She realised what she'd just agreed to. "Wait -”_ _ _

___He pressed a kiss to her lips. "Good, let me go and freshen up. Let's go out for dinner tonight."_ _ _

___She nodded again, still in a daze. She watched him leave the room; what the hell had just happened? It seemed like Kyungsoo loved her and he had done so for a long time. His presence had eased her confusion but she felt lighter, more willing to try. God, this was all insane._ _ _

___**********_ _ _

___**Epilogue - 12 months later** _ _ _

___Jongdae was getting married. Again._ _ _

___Well, technically she was going through a vow renewal. But only few people knew the truth; this wedding would be her and Kyungsoo’s ‘real’ wedding. Kyungsoo had proposed to her on the anniversary of their real wedding and Jongdae hadn’t hesitated to say yes. He’d gotten down onto a bent knee in the middle of the bedroom and she had knocked him over from the force of her hug before he could finish asking her the question._ _ _

___Their parents had been over the moon at the announcement that the couple were planning a vow renewal. With her father’s company back on track, he could throw her the big wedding he’d always dreamt of and more than anything, Jongdae had enjoyed planning the wedding alongside Kyungsoo._ _ _

___She returned home from work to find Kyungsoo waiting for her in the apartment. He met her at the door and took her coat as she slipped out of her heels._ _ _

___“What’s going on?” she asked her husband (fiancé?) suspiciously once he returned to her side. She pressed a peck to his lips and walked into the apartment._ _ _

___“We’re getting married in a few days,” he announced as if it was news, following after her. “And your brother’s coming tonight to pick you up and take you back to your parent’s home. He’ll take you away from me and I won’t see you until the big day. I wanted to spend some more time with you.”_ _ _

___She grinned over her shoulder, throwing him a teasing wink. “Who would’ve thought that Do Kyungsoo was such a romantic?”_ _ _

___“I’d have hoped you’d know that by now,” he grumbled, following after her as she walked into their bedroom. “I mean, we _have_ been living together for over a year now.”___

_____“Oh, don’t pout Soo,” she threw over her shoulder as she shrugged out of her blazer jacket. “I was only joking.”_ _ _ _ _

_____She unbuttoned the top button of her blouse when she became aware of the eyes on her figure. Unbuttoning the second button, she turned to find Kyungsoo in the doorway. He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest as he made no attempt to hide his appraisal of her. A smirk played on his lips as Jongdae raised her eyes to meet his._ _ _ _ _

_____“See something you like?” she raised an eyebrow, voice light and playful._ _ _ _ _

_____“Definitely.”_ _ _ _ _

_____He pushed away from the door, and walked into the room, coming to a stop in front of Jongdae. She rolled her eyes at him and went to continue unbuttoning her blouse when he removed her hands and dropped them back to her side. Reaching out towards Jongdae, Kyungsoo pulled her blouse out from her skirt and let his hands slip beneath it. She sucked in a deep breath as he gripped her side; the heat of his skin nothing compared to the heat in his eyes._ _ _ _ _

_____Pulling her towards him, Kyungsoo gripped her tightly in his arms. Jongdae laughed gently, looping her arms around his neck and pressing closer to him._ _ _ _ _

_____“Is there something you’re after?” she asked teasingly._ _ _ _ _

_____“I won’t see you for four days,” he began, pressing a kiss to her nose, “I won’t even be able to sneak away to see you because Minseok hyung and his fiancé will be acting like your guard dogs.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“And?” She played with the collar of his shirt. Not that she’d ever admit it to him, but getting Kyungsoo out of his formal suit had become a big kink of hers._ _ _ _ _

_____“And you can’t expect me to spend so much time without you.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Really now?”_ _ _ _ _

_____She brought her hands from around her neck to unbutton the top button of his shirt. Her fingers undid each of the buttons, pushing the shirt off from him once she was done. She trailed her fingers along his shoulders, bringing them down the front of his chest. Her fingertips danced along the plains of his stomach and came to rest on his belt buckle._ _ _ _ _

_____“You should just walk around the house without wearing a shirt,” she remarked, looking up into his eyes._ _ _ _ _

_____The hands tightened on her when Jongdae closed the distance between them to press her lips against his chest, trailing them up to his collarbone. He sucked in a breath when she scraped her teeth against the spot, sucking a bruise into it. Jongdae pulled away from him, flashing him a coy smile and danced out of his grasp._ _ _ _ _

_____Kyungsoo caught her before she could go far. “Now, where do you think you’re going?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Nowhere?” She let him pull her back towards him, watching as he made work of her buttons._ _ _ _ _

_____“Damn right you’re not,” he muttered under his breath. Like Jongdae had, he pushed the blouse off of her shoulders and didn’t do so much as look at the material that pooled by her feet. Instead, he slipped his fingers beneath the straps of her black lace bra. He peered up at her from beneath his eyelashes, a tempting smirk playing along his lips. “Do your students have any idea what’s hiding beneath your prim and proper exterior?”_ _ _ _ _

_____God, his voice did something extraordinary to her, she thought as she shuffled from one foot to another. Kyungsoo caught on to the action, fingers slipping out from beneath the strap and he stopped touching her completely. He let his eyes trail over her and Jongdae bet she was quite a sight right now._ _ _ _ _

_____“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do something?” she demanded heatedly, warmth rising to her cheeks as she stood under his blatantly assessing eyes._ _ _ _ _

_____“You lack so much patience,” he tutted, dropping to his knees in front of her. He looked up at her as his hands moved to the back of the skirt and played with the zip. “I’m willing to bet anything that the bottom half matches.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae scoffed and nudged him with her knee; he always poked fun at the fact that she could rarely be bothered to match her lingerie. He grinned, pressed his lips to the skin above the top of her skirt, and pulled the zip down. Her skirt joined the blouse and Kyungsoo pulled away from her to confirm his suspicions._ _ _ _ _

_____“I knew it,” he mumbled knowingly._ _ _ _ _

_____“It’s only because you’re so obsessed with things matching,” she complained looking down at him._ _ _ _ _

_____“Well, thanks for the consideration.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Before Jongdae could say anything in return, he leaned forward to give a bold swipe of his tongue against the front of her underwear. Jongdae gasped at the unexpected gesture, falling forward slightly and grasping his hair with two hands for stability. Pleased by the reaction, he repeated the action two, three times and didn’t even wince as Jongdae’s hold on his hair tightened. He slipped his fingers beneath the front of her underwear, teasing her with gentle strokes of his finger against where she was the most sensitive._ _ _ _ _

_____He went to slip the piece of clothing off when Jongdae tugged at his hair, signalling for him to stand up. Rising to his feet, Kyungsoo barely had time to right himself when Jongdae threw herself at him; rising onto her toes to press her lips against his in an open mouthed kiss. Stumbling back from the force of her embrace, Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around her and his back hit the mattress, taking Jongdae with him. His tongue danced against hers in an all too familiar rhythm that pulled a moan deep from his chest. Pulling back slightly, Kyungsoo pressed his head back against the mattress, staring up at the woman in front of him. Jongdae’s hair fell around her face like a curtain and Kyungsoo tucked some of it behind her ear before reversing their positions to have her under him._ _ _ _ _

_____“Someone’s eager,” he commented, knowing just how much it would infuriate her._ _ _ _ _

_____“Kyungsoo,” she started warningly, the word become a long, drawn out moan as he plunged a finger into her, her slick flesh parting easily._ _ _ _ _

_____She gasped as he curled the finger inside of her before pulling it out slowly. He thrust it back in quickly, another finger following it. Jongdae fisted the bed sheet beneath her and shifted against him, trying to get him to move faster but he didn’t. He repeated the same pattern over and over; thrusting his fingers in slowly and curling them upwards on the way back out. Eventually he added a third finger and she groaned at the stretch._ _ _ _ _

_____“Kyungsoo,” she pleaded, moving restlessly against him as he trailed his lips up her stomach and towards her heaving breasts._ _ _ _ _

_____“Yes?” he asked, not removing his lips from his skin as his free hand dove behind her to undo the clasp of her bra. Rising to her elbows, Jongdae slipped her arms out of the straps and flung the bra somewhere away from her._ _ _ _ _

_____The only answer Jongdae could give his question was a long moan when he took one of her nipples into his mouth, the flesh puckering instantly. He suckled against the skin, his free hand pebbling the other between his thumb and forefinger, all whilst his other hand maintained its maddeningly slow pace between her legs._ _ _ _ _

_____One thing that Jongdae had learnt was that Kyungsoo was good in bed - really good. But he was being a tease on purpose now. He had her at the precipice of her first climax but wasn’t letting her go over the edge._ _ _ _ _

_____“Please,” she whined when the hand between her legs slowed even more. He’d draw this out for as long as he could. But in the back of her mind Jongdae knew exactly what would make his restraint snap. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. “Kyungsoo.”_ _ _ _ _

_____He hummed against her breast, pulling away when he was satisfied and pressed his lips against her neck, determined to mark her somewhere she couldn’t hide with her clothes. His thumb swiped against her clit making her arch her back upwards, her chest rubbing against his own._ _ _ _ _

_____“Kyungsoo,” she tried again, struggling to keep her voice as more than a whimper. This time he actually pulled away to look down into her half-lidded eyes. His hands stayed busy though; the one between her legs kept moving and the other tweaked her nipple with a pressure that was the perfect mixture of pleasure and pain. “I love you.”_ _ _ _ _

_____These words were the key._ _ _ _ _

_____He drew back from her completely, rising onto his knees. He did nothing but stare down at her for a few seconds and Jongdae returned his stare, internally complaining. One of these days she was going to return the favour and keep him one edge for hours._ _ _ _ _

_____“Kyungsoo,” she repeated._ _ _ _ _

_____He dove between her legs and Jongdae stiffened, feeling his breath against her sensitive core. His first lick to her core was a firm, bold upwards stroke that had her clutching tighter at the bedsheet. Pressing firmer against her, he returned to his task, determined to get her over the edge. Using his thumb to press firmly against her clit, Kyungsoo moaned against her when she released one hand from the bedsheet to clutch at his hair and pull him firmer against her. Her hips bucked upwards towards him and he pressed her back down against the mattress with firm hands._ _ _ _ _

_____Her thighs started to shake around his head, a tell tale sign of her oncoming climax. He worked faster, pressing his fingers back into her and pushing her over the edge. Jongdae climaxed with a deep cry of his name and Kyungsoo thrust his fingers into her a few more times to ease her down._ _ _ _ _

_____Pulling back from her, he stared down at her as she took in shuddering breaths. The upwards turn of his lips made Jongdae whine and rise into a sitting position. She straddled his thighs and if Kyungsoo had been able to think straight right now, then Jongdae knew he would complain about her staining his trousers. But he had bigger concerns right now. Rocking against his very prominent erection, she made light work of his belt and the fastening of his trousers. Lifting his hips, Kyungsoo removed his trousers and boxers in one go._ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae settled back across his thighs, shifting when she pressed against his erection. Kyungsoo moaned aloud at the skin on skin contact, smothering the sound against Jongdae's chest. It was Jongdae’s turn to tease him. Tracing the protruding vein on the underside of his cock, she felt her lips pull up on one side when it twitched and Kyungsoo gave a choked groan when she took him in her hand and gave a light squeeze. She drew her hand up slowly, knowing it would torture him. And sure enough, Kyungsoo fell back against the mattress, throwing an arm over his eyes._ _ _ _ _

_____“You’re killing me here,” he bit out, lifting the arm a little to throw her a glare._ _ _ _ _

_____“It’s not so nice when it’s happening to you, now is it?” she asked contemplatively, continuing the slow pace and lowering her mouth to his head. She took him in her mouth, tonguing his slit, when Kyungsoo had enough and sat up, rolling her onto her back._ _ _ _ _

_____Settling between her thighs, he looked back down at her. “I wasn’t going to last if you kept going.”_ _ _ _ _

_____ _ _ _

_____He started to press slowly into her and Jongdae stopped him, pressing a hand to his chest. Drawing back with an annoyed scowl, he looked down at her_ _ _ _ _

_____“What now?”_ _ _ _ _

_____She gestured to the bedside table. “Condom.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Fishing one out from the drawer and rolling it on, Kyungsoo looked back down at her. “Anything else?”_ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae nodded, smiling at his frustrated facial expression. She lay back on the mattress and drew her knees up, parting her thighs. “Hurry up.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Gladly,” he muttered, covering her body with his and pressing slowly into her._ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae’s fingernails curled into the skin of his back at the stretch, a moan parting her lips. It mirrored the one that Kyungsoo smothered into her neck. He started his slow, measured thrusts, quickly picking up speed and force when Jongdae wrapped a leg around his waist to draw him in further. Each thrust pulled stuttered gasps from her as she locked both legs around him, clinging to him as she felt the oncoming peak of pleasure. Kyungsoo’s arms were pressed against the mattress on either side of her head as he used them for extra leverage. Moving an arm between them, he thumbed one of her erect nipples and swallowed Jongdae’s resulting moan with his lips._ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae raised her hips to meet his, grinding against him. She was so close._ _ _ _ _

_____Kyungsoo sped up his thrusts and it was the push Jongdae needed to take her over the edge. She came with a deep moan into Kyungsoo’s mouth. Breaking the kiss, Jongdae drew in deep breaths as Kyungsoo’s lips trailed down her neck, groaning against her as he chased after his own climax. He followed after her only seconds later, collapsing to the side beside Jongdae with a satisfied groan._ _ _ _ _

_____He rose to his feet to deal with the condom and Jongdae curled up on top of the covers waiting for him to return. Settling into bed beside Jongdae, he smiled when she snuggled against him with a content sigh._ _ _ _ _

_____“Do you think that’ll last you the four days?” she asked curiously, tracing random patterns on his chest. She looked up at him and Kyungsoo dropped a kiss to her lips._ _ _ _ _

_____“No way in hell,” he muttered against her lips before he pulled away in time to see her roll her eyes._ _ _ _ _

_____“Then I guess you’ll just have to wait until our honeymoon,” she muttered just as Kyungsoo’s phone beeped._ _ _ _ _

_____He made a noise of annoyance, but picked up his phone anyway. Reading the text message with a sigh, he put his phone back on the side table and stared up at the ceiling._ _ _ _ _

_____“What’s the matter?” Jongdae asked, rising to her elbows to look down at him._ _ _ _ _

_____“That was your brother - he’s coming to pick you up in an hour.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae raised an eyebrow. “And he messaged you because?”_ _ _ _ _

_____“Because he also warned me against trying to convince you to stay here for even a minute longer.”_ _ _ _ _

_____“But you’re going to do it anyway,” she said knowingly._ _ _ _ _

_____Kyungsoo stirred quickly, rolling them so she was under him again. “You’re damn right I am.”_ _ _ _ _

_____Jongdae didn’t think that they necessarily needed to wait until their honeymoon for a repeat performance._ _ _ _ _


End file.
